Banjo Kazooie: Fracture
by Twilight Vestige
Summary: When the wrench no longer functions and the trolley can't go through the portal to Showdown Town, Banjo and Kazooie decide to investigate. What they find is nothing like they've encountered before...
1. Prologue

The town I know today is not the one from yesterday.

I live in a small town divided. Our skies are overcast, the water is polluted; there is little food. We don't know the cause or reasoning behind his sudden change. All we do know is that it happened just after he hired that new employee to work for him. Not long after, the galactic greenhouse orbiting above us turned toxic, no longer sustaining the alien life that lived there; this year's crop failed, and once fertile fields suddenly stopped nurturing seeds.

Desperation hit.

Neighbors and friends soon turned on one another, resorting to violence to ensure their own survival; our once happy town split into two factions. The rich folks of Uptown now control the Lake and Seaside, while the Bohemians cling to the Theatre District and Town Square. It's a fight for control of the Docks at the moment: whoever succeeds gets to intercept foreign ships carrying much needed imports and supplies. Being caught in one of the Uptown controlled areas results in being interned in an abandoned museum across town. We don't know what becomes of those who are jailed. Uptown also controls the Police Force, and has equipped them with some deadly new weaponry.

There is a glimmer of hope though: rumors have been fast spreading of a group of rebels taking residence in the Jiggoseum, planning to seize the Docks and push back Uptown forces.

And yet, I still wonder what has become of the one who once protected us, why he has let his world perish and fall around him.

Something tells me that I will find out soon…


	2. Crack

Banjo-Kazooie: Fracture

Chapter 1: Crack

The sun hung high in the air over the rolling mountain range known as Spiral Mountain. Birds chorused a sweet summer song, while the recently reborn river lapped along its bed in tempo. Tucked away in a far corner of the mountain side, lay a rather dilapidated cottage. An odious, hot pink paint coated the sides of the abode; pitiable roofing and cracked windows served as a testimony of days gone by.

An adult brown bear wiped sweat from his brow, placing his paws on his hips and grinning at his accomplishment. It had taken all morning, but he had finally managed to pack away all two-hundred and eighty four boxes of "Lardo's Pizza", as well as several trash bags into the "U-Dump" dumpster at the side of the house. He didn't dare do it by hand though (what with the rotting pizza stench and roaches infesting each box); he safely performed the task from afar using a trusty magic wrench capable of extraordinary power. The bear gazed at his surroundings. He was pleased to hear the sound of running water again, given the boulder which had initially stopped the river flow had been removed. Although signs of Spiral Mountains near destruction were still evident from years ago: up rooted trees, craters, and the broken bridge, the place didn't look half bad.

His thoughts were shattered just as the window behind him was when something came crashing through it at a high speed.

"Kazooie!" He called in an annoyed tone, "We're supposed to be cleaning up the place, not breaking it down!"

"Oh, we have to replace the windows anyway," a voice from inside the cottage trilled, "besides, it's only Roysten, so no harm done."

The bear looked down where the object had landed, "No harm done?" A noticeably shaken and physically traumatized goldfish lay spastically flipping on the ground, gasping for breath. The bear rolled his eyes, scooping up the poor fish and adding more water to his bowl, it was a wonder he hadn't gone belly-up yet with all the abuse he had sustained over time. He turned back to the window, "How's it coming in there?"

"_Wonderful_," Kazooie spat sarcastically from the window, folding her wings, "it's not much different than it was fifteen minutes ago."

The bear, deciding to see for himself, stepped inside to inspect he and his friend's living quarters.

"Kaz, you've done nothing in here,"

"You know I don't like cleaning, Banjo,"

"Yeah, but could you step it up a little? We have to sleep in here!"

"I'm not touching your bed! Something smells funny over there…"

Banjo sighed, handing her the wrench, "Here, use this to move whatever it is."

He stepped outside again, padding around to the side of the house and collecting some bricks in his strong arms. Now that the yard was finished, he planned to fix the bridge next. Loading the bricks into the Trolley that L.O.G. let them keep from their last adventure, Banjo was just about to pull out of the yard when a caw from inside the house caught his attention.

Kazooie stepped out; wrench in wing, holding it out as far as she could, a sweaty t-shirt and jacket being held up by the wrench's golden beam.

"I found the source," she spoke, beak clenched, "_get rid of it_! I'm taking a break; I can't stand being in there anymore!" She left the house, and noticed the paint job. "Although out here is no better," the bird thought to herself, chucking the wrench at Banjo.

He dodged the incoming object, letting it hit the Trolley instead.

"Sorry Kaz, I took them off earlier and forgot about them." Banjo picked up the wrench and carried his clothes over to the river and tossed them in. Retrieving the Trolley, he drove over to the collapsed bridge, ready to start the next project. The bear was quite happy to do the job given the sheer power of the wrench, restoring the bridge wouldn't take long. Preparing the wrench, he aimed it at the stack of bricks within the Trolley's tray.

Nothing happened.

He waved the wrench around a bit before trying again.

No response.

"Kazooie!" Banjo shouted.

"_What?_" An exasperated sigh escaped the breegull as she glided over to her ursine friend.

"The wrench isn't working."

"You're probably using it wrong," she sighed, snatching it from him and positioning herself in front of the Trolley, raising her wing.

She came down with the wrench, and started walking away. Noticing the absence of the familiar tug of something being grappled by the wrench's "line", Kazooie returned to the Trolley again, readied herself, and aimed.

The wrench still wouldn't respond.

"Come on, stupid stick, work!" She whacked the head of the tool against the Trolley.

Still nothing.

"Aw, the bridge'll be a tough fix now," Banjo whined piteously as Kazooie trifled with the wrench.

"Oh no, manual labor! Somebody call the 'whambulance!'" the bird remarked, giving up on the device. She spun on her heel to face him.

"Want to go kick over Goggle Boy's mole hill?"

"Don't you think we should see about the wr- hey! What if Bottles comes back? You might collapse his house!"

"More reason to do it then right?" Kazooie was about to do the deed when Banjo stopped her.

"Don't you think we should see what's wrong with the wrench?"

"Don't you see I don't care?"

Banjo grabbed her by the wing, "Come on, we're heading to Showdown Town."

"Aw, c'mon Banjo! I don't want to listen to people complain about the cake shop in the square!"

"Neither do I, now let's go!"

Kazooie hesitantly dove into his backpack, while Banjo revved up the Trolley. He navigated it to the passage way to Showdown Town, stopping before the spiraling portal.

Something seemed, strange about it, the portal was darker somehow, almost foreboding.

Brushing it off, Banjo proceeded to move the Trolley forward, only to be hit with recoil as the vehicle slammed into the threshold rather than pass through it.

"Hey, what gives?" Kazooie poked her head out of the backpack with an agitated expression on her face.

"Now what?" Banjo asked no one in particular as he tried to enter the portal again, with similar results, "The Trolley won't go through!"

"Looks like we'll have to hoof it then," Kazooie answered.

Lifting himself from the driver's seat, Banjo reluctantly approached, and the familiar sucking sensation yanked him into the portal, and the world of Showdown Town beyond.

Little did he know this was not the town he, or Kazooie, remembered…


	3. Break

Banjo-Kazooie: Fracture

Chapter 2: Break

The duo soon found themselves tumbling out of the portal and into the unforgiving, cold water of the Seaside. Feeling his feet touch bottom, Banjo sprang to the surface, clearing his throat and lungs with a cough. This had never happened before. With Kazooie's help, Banjo scrambled ashore, and shook the water from his fur, chilled.

"Whew, why is it so cold? It's July," he inquired aloud.

Kazooie flapped her wings a bit to shake the water out, "Think the fact that it's overcast have anything to do with it?"

On that note, Banjo looked up, noticing the ceiling of clouds above them. No sunlight came through. The clouds contained a grey tint, heavy with rain. He brought his gaze to the normally crowded street and pier, now barren sans a few papers blowing in the wind.

"Where is everyone?"

Kazooie glanced around briefly, noticing the dead sign advertising "Klungo's Arcade." "Maybe Igor knows something?"

"Couldn't hurt to ask," Banjo replied, "but what about the break in the pier?"

"We have our moves back, remember?"

"Oh, right."

Using a quick flap, Kazooie hoisted herself and Banjo over the gap, landing neatly on the other side, only to find the arcade empty.

"Okay, no one's home then…"

"This is really weird, Kazooie,"

"Remind me what isn't weird around here?"

"Okay, weird for Showdown Town, should we take a look around?"

"Let's just find Motherboard Brain and see what's wrong with my stick."

"…_Our_ _wrench_."

"No, _my stick_, which I'm about to hit you with if you don't get a move on."

Deciding the conversation was over, Banjo left the pier, making his way to the nearby lighthouse. A rustle of gravel caused him to turn on his heel just in time to see something black disappear behind the lighthouse. It reappeared again on the other side.

"Hey, you!" Banjo called out.

The figure, a penguin, gasped before diving back behind the lighthouse. A siren suddenly sounded from nowhere, and before he could react, something slammed into Banjo, sending him off the cliff. Surfacing again, and wondering what had hit him exactly, Banjo felt himself being dragged away into the cavern under the lighthouse by a pair of black paws.

The bear tried to speak before having his mouth muffled. He tried to turn his head to see his potential captor. It was then that Kazooie emerged from the backpack and pecked at this new character. They drew their paws away, seething slightly.

"Whoa wait, who are you?!" Kazooie shouted.

"Shh…" a voice responded, his face still obscured by the dark.

A sound similar to an engine running resonated throughout the cave, growing louder by the second.

"Tell me who you are right now!"

"Hush, Kazooie!" Banjo urged.

He ushered the duo farther back into the cave as a Police vehicle made its way through, shining its spotlight around, searching. The three watched intently as the vehicle slowly passed by. Banjo recognized it as one of the Showdown Town Police vehicles, but with one new addition: the grenade gun had been replaced with a most deadly torpedile.

Silence.

When the sound of the engine had died away, signaling the threat's departure, Kazooie opened her mouth.

"Alright, who do you think you are? We could have just as easily handled that ourselves," she gestured with her wrench.

"Kazooie, did you see what it was armed with?" Banjo asked, thinking she was insane if she thought a _torpedile_ of all things wasn't something to be concerned with.

"I guess 'elping others ain't well accepted 'round 'ere…" he concluded, stepping into the light.

A male badger now stood before them. A red bandana and goggles adorned his head. He wore tattered, baggy, black jeans, and a worn out vest. His eyes were a slightly red color. It took Banjo a few moments before it came to him:

"Bumper?"

The badger smiled slightly.

"Good t' see y', mate."

Kazooie's mouth hung open, utterly shocked.

"… Banjo?"

He looked over his shoulder at her.

"When did you have friends outside of me?"

"Long story, I'll tell you later."

"Does it have to do with the elephant and the giant pig?"

"Yes."

"… Don't tell me then."

Rolling his eyes, Banjo turned back to his old friend.

"So why are you here? What's going on?"

"Timber got a message from 'is cousin 'bout suspicious activity 'round town," Bumper explained, pulling a folded newspaper from his pocket and handing it to Banjo.

The bold print exclaimed: Nutty Acres Crop Fails.

"Ouch," Banjo said, scanning the article quickly.

"That ain't all, 'parently th' Terrarium is filled with toxic gas now; everythin' is dying."

"So you came to check it out?"

"Not jus' me, Timber is with 'is cousin, Thomas, an' Pipsy is inquirin' in th' Theatre District."

"What about Drumstick and Conker?"

"Drumstick is surveying th' races while we're gone, an' your guess is as good as mine as t' what's become of Conker, I 'aven't 'eard from 'im in a long time."

"Are you two quite finished? We're just looking to get my stick fixed and then we'll be on our way," Kazooie interrupted.

"Hold on Kaz," Banjo answered, "so does anyone know what's causing all this?"

"I 'aven't the faintest, all Timber's cousin said wassat some weird stuff 'as been goin' on."

"Did he mention anything about the Lord of Games?"

"Not t' my knowledge."

Banjo turned to Kazooie, "Looks like we have more of a reason to find him now."

"Yeah, whatever, I just want my stick fixed," she said, retreating into the backpack.

"Alright then, let's go."

"Wait."

The two stopped.

"Y' can't make it there safely, not with all these cops 'round."

"Why not? It's just a bunch of rubbish police officers, no big deal."

"Y' might want to think again," Bumper's expression became serious.

"Th' town is split in t' two factions: th' Theatre District, an' Uptown. Uptown controls th' Police force, and is willing t' fire at anythin' that is tresspassin' in Uptown territories."

"Okay, so we'll just avoid those areas then," Kazooie concluded.

"Too late now missy, you're in one," the badger retorted. "Th' only places not taken by Uptown are th' Theatre District, th' Town Square, an' th' Docks, an' th' Docks are constantly bein' patrolled."

"So how do we get to the factory?" Banjo asked.

"Th' canals 'round town 'ave all but dried up now, an' there are some tunnels lying about. There's a tunnel close by that leads to th' pool, so y' should be fine from there."

"Thanks Bumper," Banjo replied.

"Wait a second, how come Uptown hasn't caught you?" Kazooie raised an eyebrow.

"I'm posin' as a Dock worker right now, they 'aven't bothered us yet," he explained. "Now follow me."

The duo followed Bumper along the edge of the beach, passing King Jingaling's Bingo palace, and onto the banks once again. Sure enough, just beyond the wreck of the Saucer of Peril was a parched canal.

"'ere y' go, I think y' can take it from 'ere."

"Thanks again, Bumper."

"Yeah, whatever," Kazooie added, not at all impressed given she could have made the distance easily herself.

"Not a problem," Bumper was about to leave before turning to them again, "Oi, if you're ever by th' docks again, look me up!"

"We will," Banjo called before descending into the tunnel.

About halfway through, Kazooie felt the need to break the quiet.

"That's a thick accent if I've ever heard one, I couldn't understand him half the time!"

Ignoring the comment, Banjo recognized the location immediately upon leaving the tunnel. Bumper was correct, for they had ended up at the pool. Taking a right upon leaving the area, Banjo hopped the cliff, and headed along the path to Town Square.

At least, it _looked_ like Town Square.

However, this Town Square was missing many of its inhabitants, and was instead occupied by many more Police Vehicles, all armed with deadly torpediles. Navigating the area inconspicuously, Banjo somehow made it to the other side of the square near the Theatre District. Feeling it was safe, Banjo decided to view the surrounding area.

The most evident change was the shattered Jiggy Bank, all one hundred and thirty-one Jiggies were gone without a trace.

"Oh no," Banjo said to himself, his moral quieting a bit, "all our hard work…"

"Come on, Banjo, this happens every time. Everything we do is reset and we have to fetch one hundred something more, you know this!" Kazooie prompted in an attempt to cheer him up.

"I guess so," he replied solemnly, although he didn't feel any better.

"Let's just go find scart mouth and see what's up," she placed a wing on his shoulder.

And with that, the two proceeded to the back of the cliff where the Factory lie, taking the long way up.


	4. Split

AN: Yeah I know, late huh? I promise I'm not dead. XD

* * *

Banjo-Kazooie: Fracture

Chapter 3: Split

"Little people down below, I have something you should know…"

A figure viewed the output of many surveillance cameras stationed around town.

"Proud leader, who ruled this land, has now succumbed to my hand…"

They watched intently the goings on in the town: people fleeing from authorities, others gathered under crude shelters to get out of the rain. The figure repeatedly tossed a thin, black, object into the air; it was one that was most crucial to her success.

"Lord of Games is now no more, Grunty's rule is now in store!"

It was then that the witch felt the need to let out a maniacal cackle, right within hearing range of a sleeping cat. The shrill sound of her voice sent Piddles' flying into the air from shock with a shriek of her own. Now wide awake, and roughly clinging to the back of Grunty's chair with extended claws, Piddles starred daggers at Grunty before helping herself to the arm of the chair.

"So, anything good going on down there, Winkybunion?" Piddles asked, a slightly annoyed tone to her voice.

"Nothing new from what I see, if only among them I could be…"

Grunty was well aware of the resistance building in the Jiggoseum against "LOG," but she didn't want to intervene now: she wanted to play with them for awhile, let them stagnate a bit before she cleaned them up from LOG's world, no _her_ world!

However, sitting around and watching from the sidelines wasn't her idea of fun: she needed someone to get "intimate" with enemy, a spy of sorts. A crooked grin crossed her skeletal features as she eyed the cat the Lord of Games had given to her.

"Piddles, I have a job for you: watch the bear and his crew. Should anything go awry, report to me right away!" Grunty exclaimed, shoving Piddles off the arm of the chair and sending her on her way.

"Stupid wench, why did LOG have to assign me to her?" Piddles huffed, marching out of the factory and into the rain. Being stuck as Grunty's sidekick was not the job she would have picked if she'd had the choice. She was always told that once one was assigned a role in one of LOG's games, it couldn't be changed. It was one of the many Laws of Gaming that LOG created, and a simple _game character_ couldn't go against the _Lord of Games_.

Sighing heavily, Piddles was about to make her way down the side of the mountain where the Factory was perched when she heard two familiar voices.

"You think LOG knows what's going on?"

"No, he only created this place to have no idea what goes on in it."

"Perfect timing," Piddles thought to herself as she staked out a good hiding spot to watch the bear and bird.

"Funny, he's normally waiting outside here…" Banjo rubbed his chin in thought.

"Well, electronics don't do well in the rain, and LOG is just a floating TV set anyway…"

"He could always bring an umbrella?"

"No Banjo, just no."

Defeated yet again in another conversation, Banjo turned on his heel and went back the way they came.

The rain was falling a little bit harder now as Bumper made his way back to his post at the docks. A bunch of the workers there were looking over into the water at something.

"Oi, Bumpa! Good timing, mate. Could ya take a look a' this?" a burly rhino asked.

A penguin felt it next to add: "One o' th' metal barrels fell off the dock 'ere an' sank. Think you could get it for us?"

Without a word, Bumper pulled a ring of keys out of his pocket, and approached a magnetic crane. The machine roared to life at his command.

A young mouse girl appeared from beyond the construction site, an umbrella in her hand. She was shortly followed by a blue-haired cheetah.

"Aw c'mon Pips, wouldn't you rather date a winner? You deserve someone with talent, good looks, and well, someone like-!"

"Timber? You're right and I'm happy with him, now Thomas-"

"No, I meant myself, and call me TT,"

Seeming a little annoyed, Pipsy continued, "Love isn't something you can just win."

"Oh really?" he replied, "I've clearly won the love of my fans."

"It's not the same thing," she replied before turning to the docks and noticing Bumper, "Oh Bumper! Over here!" She started to run over to him when TT stopped her again.

"C'mon Pips, just give me one chance. You and I'd be perfect together! You, the winner of the races on Timber Island, and me, the winner of, well, everything…"

"Thomas, if I told you one time, I've told you a thousand, no."

As Pipsy left, TT muttered a few things to himself before stubbornly following her like a lost puppy, "I'll win her over, that I'm sure of, she'll give in eventually! Timber doesn't deserve her; he doesn't deserve the island either! I'm better than him, and always was!"

Bumper noticed a bit of commotion between Pipsy and Trophy Thomas and felt the need to break things up, or at least break TT if he was bothering Pipsy.

Releasing the metal crate onto the ground with the machine and hopping out, he approached the two of them.

"Bumper-"

"This guy buggin' you?" the badger interrupted, "'cause I can make 'im stop _real _quick if 'e is …"he flexed his knuckles threateningly.

"Ah, no Bumper, it's fine." Pipsy lowered his arms for him.

Bumper shot a disapproving look at TT; he didn't like guys harassing girls, particularly Pipsy. He thought of himself as a big brother to her.

"Well, she likes me enough to save me from being beaten up- not like that other guy'd win or anything…" TT thought to himself.

"Bumpa, Look a' this!"

"Ugh, what'd they knock over now?" Bumper questioned aloud as he went to investigate the problem. The same few workers were looking over the dock. Occasionally, a burst of bubbles would erupt from the bottom.

"I reckon ya missed somethin' down there…"

Sighing again and brandishing the key ring from before, Bumper started up the crane again, positioning its magnet over the area and lowering it.

All eyes were on the crane as it pulled the object from the water.

"What the…?"

"Is that LOG?"

Sneaking around the town square as before, Banjo kept his eyes peeled for any torpedile-wielding police vehicles. He soon found himself wandering into the Theatre District, the poorer side of town.

"This is terrible…," Banjo said to himself, "How could it get this bad?"

"Well, if that paper was any indication-"

A large crash and a few screams alerted the duo to a scuffle going on in a nearby alley. Two large Gruntbots had cornered something in the alleyway.

"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" Banjo hollered, arming himself with Kazooie and firing two Ice Eggs. The projectiles made contact with their intended targets, leaving Kazooie to break them with the wrench.

"Y'know that was pretty lame, Ban-," Kazooie began, noticing the bear crouching in the corner where the Gruntbots had been.

"Hey, are you okay little fella?" Banjo spoke gently.

The little creature was visibly shaken and wide-eyed. Kazooie recognized it as a Pretztail from Piñata Island. Something was odd about it though, it had split-end ears, and from what Kazooie knew, they weren't common in Pretztails.

"Oh c'mon, no Jiggy?" Kazooie shook her head, "Let's go Banjo, it doesn't have anything."

Glad the little thing was okay, Banjo caught up to Kazooie.

The Pretztail watched them leave before donning a Witch's hat and leaving itself.

"Might as well just head back to Bumper for now, maybe he has something new to tell us…" Banjo stated, looking up at Kazooie.

"Eh, we've got no other leads…"

"Banjo!"

"Well there's one now." Kazooie corrected herself.

Pipsy raced up to them, "It's great to see you again," she gave Banjo a hug.

"Pipsy! What are you doing here?" Banjo asked, returning the gesture.

"I could ask the same thing, but there's no time now. There's something you need to see…"

"Processes starting: speaker enabled, emotions online, personality activated. Rebooting… rebooting… The system has recovered from a serious error, please tell Microsoft about this problem…"

Various things floated through his mind as he felt himself being powered up.

"Virus scans running, screen…functional. Memory…memory… output negative. Hardware not found: Memory Chip, restart?"

The group surrounded the soggy, cloaked figure lying in a heap on the ground.

"Well, this would explain the state of the town…" Kazooie spoke.

A strange spluttering sound, almost like a cough, erupted from the speaker in the center of the monitor, followed by water, and a goldfish.

"Is that Roysten?" Banjo asked, scratching his head.

"Probably," Kazooie added, kicking the fish back into the harbor.

"Hey, I think he's coming to…" Pipsy said.

The screen flashed a few times, first static, and then a blue screen. A few red rings appeared on the screen before it changed green entirely. Two pixilated "eyes" appeared, then a "nose."

"Uh…oh…" LOG seemed to get up, assuming his normal floating position, shaking the water from his cloak.

All was quiet for a minute or so as the monitor looked around at his surroundings.

But as always, "quiet" and Kazooie never mixed well.

"Decided to go for a swim, scart mouth?"

"Uh… who?"

Although they hardly knew him for more than a minute, both Pipsy and Bumper knew something wasn't right with the deity.

"Um, Mr. LOG, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm sorry; I don't… recognize you…"

"Oh lovely…," Kazooie lamented, "He's lost it!"

"You think you two can help him?" Banjo asked hopefully.

Mumbo Jumbo and Humba Wumba sat as far away from each other as the bench allowed.

"Mumbo help out Cloaked Computing one," the skeletal witch doctor snapped, "do much better job alone than with stupid Humba!"

"Humba work much better without low grade Mumbo messing up spells!" the Native girl exclaimed, scooting further away from Mumbo.

Banjo shook his head ruefully, "Come on guys, this is serious! We need you two to work together to help get LOG's memory back so we can fix this!"

"Mumbo help, just not work with Humba!"

"Same go for Humba!"

Piddles watched from under a table in front of Mumbo's Motors, swishing her tail back and forth as she watched the two argue. It was at least more exciting than packing crates of games no one would buy in LOG's factory.

"Alright, alright, if you both work one at a time, it should still have the same affect if you were both doing it together," Pipsy deduced, standing back so the two could do their work.

Taking this as a cue, Mumbo readied himself in front of LOG.

"Wait, why Mumbo go first?" Humba asked haughtily.

"Humba no need to go, Mumbo finish job in one go!"

Humba made an attempt to shove Mumbo out of the way, which Mumbo quickly returned. Eventually a scuffle had broken out between the two.

Piddles watched with interest.

"Hey, hey! Stop it, both of you!" Banjo exclaimed. The plea fell on deaf ears.

Suddenly, Mumbo's Wand collided with the ground, with both Shamans' hands lying on top of it. A purple and yellow electric beam shot forth from the item, directly hitting Piddles from underneath the table.

The cat felt herself being lifted into the air slowly, but progressively faster. Weird sensations enveloped her body as she felt her limbs being stretched out. A blinding flash finished the transformation. When the light cleared, there wasn't a jaw not open at the revelation:

Piddles, a normal cat, had become just like the rest. She had five fingers per paw, much longer legs and arms, and was about the same height as Pipsy. The blast had anthropomorphized her.

The cat girl placed a five-fingered hand to her forehead as she knelt on the ground.

"Hello…" TT said quietly.

Out of curiosity, LOG found himself floating over to the new Piddles, something falling out of his cloak.

Pipsy brought her gaze from the two and to the object on the ground, "What's this?"

A small, black, computer chip of some kind greeted her. Picking it up, she went over to LOG.

"Um, I think you dropped this…"

LOG looked down at the chip in her open palm.

"That's-"

Suddenly, the chip zipped out of Pipsy's hand, circled around, and inserted itself into the back of LOG's monitor.

"Good, a distraction, just what I needed," Piddles said to herself,  
"I'll have to report this to Grunty… any try to find a way back to normal…" She began crawling away, not used to her new set of legs.

"Hey, fluff ball! Where do you think you're going?" Kazooie shouted.

Piddles could feel her ears slick back, "Uh…," she had to think of something quick, "I'm just looking for a… support!" It was the quickest lie she'd ever thought up.

She noticed a chair next to her and grabbed hold of it, hoisting herself up on wobbly legs.

Kazooie stifled a laugh as Piddles struggled to take her first awkward steps. TT, noticing Kazooie's absence from the rest of the group surrounding LOG, approached her.

"What's going-"

Kazooie was all out laughing now as a distressed Piddles tried to keep her legs straight.

"See, this walking on two legs thing, no big-"she suddenly fell forward, and would have landed on her face had she not awkwardly crashed into the cheetah a few feet in front of her.

"You need any help?" TT asked, steadying her. He looked to see if Pipsy was watching, to his dismay, she was not.

"Well, I think she likes me a little bit, maybe this chick could make her jealous…" he thought to himself.

"This guy seems like a womanizer…" Piddles pondered, "_Perfect_." Everything was going according to plan, other than the accidental transformation and having to relearn how to walk.

After having her fun, Kazooie went back to Pipsy, Banjo and Bumper who were still watching LOG.

"What's RAM head doing?"

"Loading apparently," Banjo noted, pointing to the hourglass rotating on his screen.

"New Hardware Found and Installed: Memory" flashed on his screen.

"Looks like it was a mem'ry chip of some sorts…" Bumper spoke, folding his arms.

LOG shook himself a bit, seeming to come back from his installation process.

"So… do you remember anything?"

The Lord of Games seemed to ponder this for a moment, "I… I think there was… a farm…, and those two…" he gestured to the still fighting, albeit verbally this time, Mumbo and Humba, "were married."

As if given a signal, the portal to Nutty Acres opened, revealing a spiraling light not unlike the one Banjo and Kazooie passed through to enter Showdown Town.

"Well, first things first," Banjo announced, with a heightened resolve upon their progress, "C'mon Kazooie!"

And with that, the two dissolved into the portal, not knowing what truly lie on the other side.


	5. Shatter

Banjo-Kazooie: Fracture

Chapter 4: Shatter

The portal spit the duo out onto the sandy shores of Nutty Acres, an artificial isle where the major export of Showdown Town was grown: coconuts. However, the state of the isle was not one for growing coconuts; the once shimmering waters that lapped the shoreline were now unhealthy and polluted; the sky dark with volcanic ash and coconut-destroying gas. Strangely, not all of the island was intact; streams of coding with green "0's," and "1's" littered different parts of the island.

"Ew… this place smells weird…" Banjo covered his nose with a paw in disgust.

"Think this is bad? Try running around in Guffo's trashcan in Cloud Cuckoo Land…" Kazooie added from inside the backpack.

"Oh really now, and who got the jiggy in the cheese wedge?"

"…Alright you win." The breegull concluded.

There was only silence between the two for a moment.

"Well, now what?"

"We start looking for problems to fix."

"Sounds about right."

"Think hut boy is around anywhere?"

"Couldn't hurt to look."

Banjo set off towards the central part of the farm, wondering at first where the sign for "Mumbo's Nuts" was.

"It's normally around here some-!" he was interrupted by a loss of his footing.

"Hey, watch it Banjo!" Kazooie trilled, using her wings to keep him from falling into the coded abyss before them.

"W-what happened to the farm?!"

"It's obviously not here right now, now is it?" Kazooie replied, "We'll probably have to do something first that will affect this later."

"I guess you're right." Banjo sighed in defeat.

He was just about to move on when an odd sound caught his attention, a sound of something… falling. Seconds later, the trolley landed where Banjo had been a minute ago.

"Oh come on, not this thing again," Kazooie exclaimed, "I thought the backlash got rid of the vehicles!"

"Apparently not all of them," Banjo answered.

Another sound caught their attention as one of the monstrous flat screens that surrounded the island suddenly broadcasted L.O.G. from Showdown Town.

"Um, excuse me, Banjo was it?" he said sheepishly.

Banjo couldn't help but feel a little strange hearing the normally arrogant gaming deity address him that way.

"What is it Mr. L.O.G.?"

"I just remembered that trolley there just now. I think… you drove it around Showdown Town, right?"

"Unfortunately…" Kazooie remarked.

"Well… I hope it is of use to you."

"Thanks Mr. L.O.G." Banjo smiled.

He turned and approached the trolley, hopping into the driver's seat, and was about to drive away when L.O.G. stopped him.

"Banjo?"

He turned his head.

"Thank you."

The screen blinked a few times before returning to its former image: a grey and overcast sky.

As Banjo urged the trolley down the hill, Kazooie felt the need to disturb the monotony of the drive.

"Were you weirded out at all when Pong Face thanked us?"

No response, however she did notice a change in the bear's driving.

"Banjo, you're swerving a bit, are you okay?"

He placed a shaky paw to his forehead, "I dunno, I just feel sick all of a sudden…"

The trolley veered sharply to the right as Banjo fell forward, dragging the wheel and Kazooie with him.

"Whoa, watch where you're driving!" Kazooie gripped his shoulders tightly with her wings, noticing an increase in their speed.

"Banjo, snap out of it! WAKE UP!" She whacked his face with a wing to no response; he'd passed out at the wheel.

Not at all feeling like crashing at the moment, Kazooie dove into her backpack and threw on her Turbo Trainers, hauling Banjo onto her back and leaving the trolley to collide with a nearby synthetic tree.

As she ran, Kazooie noted several pieces of volcanic rock lying about, each spewing the same gas that already made up most of the air. It was just a guess, but Kazooie had a feeling that Banjo's sudden malady had something to do with it, and to reverse the effects, she had to find clean water. It worked the last time.

Kazooie cursed the law of gaming that stated that all power ups must have time limits as the familiar "time's running out!" ticking met her ears. She spent too much time worrying about the music and ended up tripping, losing the backpack and landing in a deep pool of warm water at the base of the volcano, exactly what she wanted.

"What bear and bird doing falling into Humba pool?"

Kazooie surfaced to see the shaman girl staring at them, "I tripped, and something's wrong with-"

It was just then that Banjo surfaced, a weird gargling sound emitting from his mouth, as if knowing he was to be mentioned.

"Kaz, what happened?"

Kazooie sent a cascade of pink water crashing over him with a wing, "You were swerving on the road and passed out at the wheel, what do you think happened?"

"Humba not want know what bear been doing…"

"It wasn't like that Humba!" Banjo said defensively.

Kazooie felt a change of subject was at hand.

"So anyways, how come this water is okay compared with the rest of the island?"

A tiny pink creature hopped onto her shoulder, "Glowbo help purify water. Humba not jinx volcano this time, rocks fly out on own, land in mouth of river, make small pool. No water escape."

"Well, we can't have either of us passing out again; can we take some water with us, Humba?"

"Bear take as much water as needed, whatever it takes to bring coconut crop back." Humba gestured to a box marked "Mumbo's Motors" behind her. "Silly L.O.G. remember this too, attach to vehicle to help douse volcanic rock."

Banjo opened the crate and retrieved a Liquid Squirter from the inside.

Donning the Turbo Trainers once again, Kazooie sprinted back to where the trolley crashed, allowing Banjo to take over with driving it after attaching the Liquid Squirter to the front.

Gradually, they made their way around the island, drenching the volcanic rocks and ridding the gas which diffused from them.

"So Kaz," Banjo began while dousing the last rock, "How come you weren't affected by the gas?"

"I was in the backpack most of the time, and if it can protect you from hazardous waste and scalding water, I don't think any airborne coconut killers will do anything to me."

With the last of the rocks saturated, Banjo noticed how the air became considerably clearer.

Kazooie however, noticed something else.

"Y'know, there's a really large crack in this rock."

"Think there's anything inside it?"

"Only one way to find out!"

The duo left the trolley to Bill Drill the rock, a memory chip piece lay among the rubble.

"Well that was convenient."

"Kazooie, look at this!"

Some of the coding that had situated itself over the island vanished, revealing the main part of the farm as well as one of the great sets of gears that bordered the island.

"I get it now," Banjo started, "the more chips we find, the more areas we'll unlock in the worlds!"

"It took you that long to figure that one out?" Kazooie remarked.

"Let's just move on shall we?" Banjo grumbled, hopping back into the trolley and steering it towards the newly revealed gear set.

Inflating the floaters positioned under the trolley's tray, Banjo left the shore and entered the contaminated water, flipping the switch to the small propeller at the back of his seat. The now trolley-turned-skiff whirred through the water slowly as the machinery seemingly grew larger before them.

"Does it seem like the water is more defiled over here?" Banjo asked, leaning in his seat slightly to get a closer look.

"Kinda vile looking isn't it?" Kazooie added.

The water seemed to ripple slightly, a disturbance not at all made from their little makeshift boat. The water began to swell again, creating an even larger wake. Banjo could have sworn he felt something _big_ swim underneath the trolley, and he suddenly felt rather unsafe in his crude little boat.

His suspicions would soon prove true.

The water suddenly erupted into an explosion of chunky water, globs falling all over the duo and the trolley.

Towering above them, at a height rivaling that of the volcano, was what could only be described as a horribly disfigured crocodile. Its head and jaw made up most of its body while its right eye alone took up much of the head. Crooked teeth protruded at odd angles from its mouth, thin legs somehow supporting its massive weight. A mix of russet, crimson, and jade plated scales lined its body.

"Oh dear… the music's changed…" Banjo gulped, wiping a particularly thick gobbet from his face.

"Don't forget the subtitle, 'Meticulous Muck Mutant'," Kazooie shook out her wings, "I think a fight is coming on."

"You'd have that right bird brain!" The twisted beast roared, only shaking the poor trolley more.

"Figures they couldn't have just left Mr. Vile alone in Bubble Gloop Swamp, living out the rest of his days challenging other crocodiles to eating contests, no! They wanted Mr. Vile for the third installment, and at the last minute, they flush him down to the Cut for Deadlines room!"

"So?" Banjo queried.

"SO?!" The malformed reptile boomed, leaning in close for Banjo and Kazooie to get a better look, "Obviously being flushed down Loggo has done wonders for Mr. Vile's mood!"

"That's not all its done wonders for," Kazooie remarked.

"Why you- enough talking! Let's fight, Greeny!"

Mr. Vile submerged into the murky depths, swimming underneath the tiny trolley once again.

"Kazooie, what do we do? He's too big!" Banjo shouted, urging the trolley after the creature.

"Kill it with fire?" The breegull suggested.

"That's it!" Banjo exclaimed, "Kazooie, I've got an idea…"

Unfortunately Banjo's plan couldn't quite go underway before Mr. Vile rose from behind them, standing to his full height.

"Ever wonder what the bottom of Mr. Vile's foot looks like?"

"Oh dear…" Banjo cringed, memories of Stomponadon flooding his mind as the shadow loomed over him.

"Well, BAM! THERE IT IS!" The reptile announced, slamming his foot on top of them.

Banjo and Kazooie had just narrowly missed being crushed, although the same couldn't be said for their vehicular friend.

"Any other ideas, Banjo?" Kazooie snapped as she helped Banjo along in swimming.

"Hey, I haven't even used the first one yet!"

The two made it ashore as Mr. Vile continued to spread his filth everywhere.

"We'll need a flight pad and grenade eggs…" the bear murmured, eyeing a round disc at the top of the large crate stack.

Making their way to the top via Flap Flips and Flutter Jumps, Kazooie lifted them into the sky, flying toward the mammoth mutant.

"Lemme guess, we take out that one eye first?"

"That's what I was thinking."

"And then we shoot grenade eggs into his mouth?"

"Probably."

"Let's go then!"

Waiting for the beast to face them, Kazooie positioned herself to Beak Bomb its swollen eye.

"Hey, swamp breath, surprise!" Kazooie dove forward, nailing Mr. Vile in the eye.

"ARGH! Now why would you do that? Mr. Vile doesn't think that's very fair!"

The mutant attempted to shake off the pain and blurriness from his poked eye, leaving his mouth agape for the duo to begin phase two.

"Eat this!" Banjo cried as Kazooie fired a round of grenade eggs into the enemy's open maw.

"Leave the witty banter to me, Banjo," the breegull trilled, "snarkiness doesn't suit you."

"Sorry, Kazooie."

"ACK! Those weren't Yumblies! You'll pay for that…" Vile croaked, whipping his tail at the duo with a speed they hadn't seen.

"Hah, miss!" Kazooie laughed.

"Well pardon Mr. Vile's lacking depth perception! _This_ won't miss!"

Mr. Vile spat a sea of thick sludge into the air; it amassed and knocked the two out of the sky.

"So much for that," the bird wiped her wings clean of the goop.

"Not yet, we've got one more shot. Have any Clock Work Eggs?"

"Just one…"

The crocodile grew impatient at the loss of his prey, "Come on Greeny! Come out and fight!"

"If you say so!" Banjo broadcasted, stepping in front of the mutant's good eye. "Now, Kazooie!"

The breegull cracked open a large yellow spotted egg, a small metal bird leapt out from the inside with a small "Bree!"

It waddled down the nose of the beast before entering its mouth. A few seconds later, a muffled explosion was heard.

"NO! Not more explosives! Alright, Greeny, take your prize!"

The beast shook slightly and began to shrink, eventually melting into a puddle of the strange goop from whence it came. The Meticulous Muck Mutant, Mr. Vile, was no more. The water immediately cleared, and another memory chip made its presence known.

Banjo picked up the small object, turning it over in his paws as more of the coding cloaking the island vanished. High-fiving Kazooie, the bear and bird set off to retrieve the broken pieces of the trolley and began to work on putting it back together.

* * *

"What's the point though? We already know he lost his memory, what else is there to find out?" Bumper folded his arms.

"We don't know exactly _how_ he lost his memory though," Pipsy said, "and to who, or what even. That's what I want to know. I want to know what happened." The mouse girl turned to him, "Besides, if finding this out will help restore his memory faster, then I say 'do it.'"

Bumper wasn't against the idea, but he was against Pipsy going off on her own. Timber was at the Jiggoseum, organizing the resistance, and he couldn't leave his post. Bumper sighed; he couldn't hold her back forever.

"Do what you want," he huffed, feeling his face redden.

Pipsy nodded slightly, and was about to leave when Bumper laid a paw on her shoulder.

"Be careful though, I don't want to have to come and- collect you or anything, okay?"

She smiled at him, always caring for others behind that tough exterior.

Pipsy headed for the Theatre District, opening her umbrella as rain began to fall. The Theatre District was the smallest, and unfortunately most crowded, area in Showdown Town. It was also the hardest hit economically. The streets were mostly deserted, sans a few children playing in the street with a newspaper ball. As she walked past them, the children fled to their parents as the rain grew heavier; the sky gradually darkening overhead. A sort of giggling caught her ears, nothing like the sound of a child however.

"Pretty girls shouldn't be roaming the streets at night, something might happen…"

Pipsy eyed a little green creature hand-cuffed inside a cell. Deciding he was probably better off in there anyway; a bit unnerved by his words, Pipsy quickened her pace.

A sense of loneliness overwhelmed her, and for once, she sort of wished that Thomas was around and hounding her for a date. Another strange sensation soon swallowed her: a sensation of being followed. Casting a quick glance around, she continued on her way. However, she _was_ being followed.

* * *

"So, you're getting better I see…" T.T. tried to strike up some idle chit chat.

"Getting _used_ to it is more like it," Piddles replied, still clinging to him as she gradually found her footing, "I-I think I can handle it now."

"You sure about that?" The cheetah smirked.

"I said so didn't I? Why wouldn't I be?" Piddles huffed, clenching her fists.

"Okay, prove it then." T.T. replied with a grin. "How about you join me at The Embo Night Spot for a drink?"

"Wastes no time now does he?" Piddles thought to herself, "Alright, but you're paying."

"Fine by me."

Placing an arm on her shoulder, he guided her to the club.

"This'll be easier than I thought…" the two thought to themselves as the walked.

* * *

Pipsy wasn't sure if she was just being paranoid, but she could have sworn she saw an all too familiar shadow appear on the alley wall. A shadow belonging to one she had hoped to never encounter again. Seeing the silhouette again, she clenched the handle of the umbrella until her knuckles turned white, breaking into a run.

Pipsy clearly heard footsteps behind her as she ran faster, only soon coming to a dead end. A tap on her shoulder caused her to yelp and turn around, umbrella poised and ready to strike.

"Do you have change for a five?"

Pipsy let out an audible "Huh?" as she lowered her makeshift weapon.

"Do you have any bronze notes?"

"Um…" Pipsy produced five bronze notes, exchanging them for a single silver note from the stranger's hoof.

"Good, I could use a drink." The figure approached a nearby vending machine, inserting the note and making a selection.

The light from the machine allowed the girl to get a better look at her pursuer.

The porcine was unsurprisingly portly, wearing ragged and worn clothing that barely fit. A small hat was perched atop his head. His cloak shrouded most of his features, but it failed to conceal a shining, gold police badge on his chest.

"Wait a minute," Pipsy spoke, "you're Officer Pikelet, aren't you?"

Claiming the drink, the pig opened the can of "Mepsi Pax," "That's _former_ Officer Pikelet to you, missy, oh and thanks."

"Um, no problem…" Pipsy gave a small smile, standing about awkwardly as the pig drank the soda.

Noticing the girl was still around, Pikelet confronted her.

"You need something?"

Pipsy perked up a bit, "Well," she fidgeted nervously.

The pig was growing impatient, "Come on now, spit it out."

"Well, I'm looking for a bit of information…"

He took a final swig from the can, "And how would that involve me?" he asked, crushing the can, "Is this about the police force? If so, I don't have any-"

"Are you familiar with the Lord of Games?"

Pikelet stared at the mouse for a moment.

"Yeah, what about him? He's been gone for a long time now."

"We've found him."

A little bit taken aback, the pig tossed the can behind him, "Who is 'us' exactly?"

"Bumper, a friend of mine from the Docks, Banjo, and Kazooie."

"Don't know the first guy, but those other kids are back?" he turned away, not wanting to show his relief to a complete stranger.

"Yes, and we've found the Lord of Games, but y'see-"

"His memory's been wiped clean?"

"Y-yes but-"

"I was there when it happened."

* * *

"So what's so great about this club anyway?"

"Eh, good music, decent eating… better than those ritzy Uptown joints anyway," T.T. commented.

Piddles wasn't entirely sure about that, she wasn't too impressed with being in the slums of the town. Thomas brought her over to the bar as another song started up.

A rather burly toad approached them to take their orders. Despite her physique, the woman wore a rather tight-fitting, blue and white stripped outfit along with red high heels. She had short blonde hair which seemed to shift around a bit on her head. Her lips were painted a bright red.

"What can I get you two tonight? We have a special going on: five tankards of Seamen's Brew for only two notes…" her voice was really deep.

"No thanks, Maggie, just the usual," T.T. tipped the woman.

"Coming right up…" she pranced into the room behind the bar to retrieve the drinks.

Piddles had an incredulous look on her face, "Was that really a-?"

"Nope."

* * *

"So what happened exactly?" Pipsy sat across from Pikelet in the Theatre, hoping she wasn't prying too much.

"Well, I noticed some strange things going on around town after the crop failure in Nutty Acres: a lot of violence between Uptown and the other districts, and then the Terrarium becomes dangerous..."

Pipsy nodded and Pikelet continued, "So I start heading up to see L.O.G. to see what was going on, the crop shouldn't have failed, and he knows how important it is to the economy around here. Not only that, but we export some of the plant life grown in the Terrarium to be used in medicines and other things, that shouldn't have gone either..."

He paused again. "So as I'm heading up there, I bump into that game developer who set up down by the pier. He says he's going to visit someone in the factory. Since we were both heading there anyway, we go together. L.O.G. isn't outside the establishment like he usually is though."

He took a breath, "So we head inside, not thinking anything is wrong, and go to find the guy, right? Well, we find him alright, along with that person Klungo wanted to see…"

Pipsy noticed his expression change to a more sullen one. None the less, Pikelet continued, "We find that wench standing over the guy's crumpled form, holding what looked like a large memory chip. The thing then breaks into pieces and flies out where we came in, and she sees us…" He shook his head in sorrow, "She didn't want either of us blurting this out to anyone in town. Grunty didn't want someone to go and fetch Banjo and Kazooie. I got away, but Klungo wasn't so lucky…"

"So it was Gruntilda…"Pipsy thought, looking away and feeling bad, but at the same time, curious over why the chip would break on its own and scatter.

"I don't know where he is now; I was coward for leaving him behind like that. That wasn't what we were taught at the academy…" he removed his hat silently.

"We'll help rescue Klungo. He's probably just fine." Pipsy said reassuringly although it didn't seem to help the situation.

"I hope you're right, missy." Pikelet faced her, "I never got your name…"

"Pipsy."

"It's nice to meet you, Pipsy."

* * *

"Alright! That's the last of it!" Banjo said happily as he patted the last bit of dirt down. "Just add the water now, Kazooie."

Flipping a switch on the liquid squirter, the machine promptly spewed water onto the targeted area, and shortly afterwards, a tiny green stem inched its way to the surface.

"Humba much grateful to bear and bird for planting new Loco-Coco tree," Humba announced as the plant grew larger before her very eyes.

"It'll probably need sunlight though, right?" Kazooie asked, bringing her gaze to the giant bulb hanging above the screens surrounding the island.

"Humba think so, but how does light come on?"

"There has to be a switch somewhere, but we haven't found anything yet…" Banjo replied.

"Loco-Coco not do well for long without sunlight, but Humba know bear will find switch. Big heaps sure of it!"

Pocketing another memory chip he had found while digging, Banjo drove the trolley back to the portal leading to Showdown Town. Humba was right; they'd have to turn on the power to the artificial sun to help the tree grow.

* * *

Piddles starred at her drink, occasionally stirring it with the straw.

"There's nothing wrong with it you know." T.T. said, breaking the silence that had grown between them.

"I'd be more worried about your drink if I were you." Piddles pointed to his glass.

Thomas stopped drinking mid-sip, pushing his glass forward at the sudden realization.

"So," he began, placing his arm on the counter, "Tell me about yourself."

"Eh, I'm not that interesting, why don't you go first."

Piddles wasn't entirely surprised when he started to recite his life story. She eventually grew bored of listening to him after a few minutes in, but tried to look interested, only to end up starring at him instead. His chest and arms in particular.

"He has a nice build," She thought inattentively, until she realized exactly _what_ she was thinking, and turned away, bushing.

"What?" T.T. asked, noticing her turn away quickly.

"N-nothing!" Piddles shot back defensively, probably a bit _too_ defensively as T.T. only smirked.

Regaining her composure, the cat felt it was time for a change of subject.

"So, how come Banjo is here?"

"Oh, _him_?" Thomas snapped, "Something to do with the town and how it is now, I don't care." He folded his arms, and found himself really annoyed. Had she been thinking of the bear the whole time? It was then that the cheetah noticed that he wasn't annoyed at Banjo, but at the thought of Piddles even _thinking_ about Banjo. It was then his turn to blush.

"What's with you?" Piddles cocked an eyebrow.

"Nothing, just nothing," he said quickly, feeling his face burn.

Piddles smiled to herself, and just starred at the countertop. T.T. wanted to disappear.

"Well, I'm taking off," Piddles said, finality in her voice.

"Oh, okay."

"Catch you later?"

"Y-yeah, I guess."

And she was gone.

Despite the other people still in the club, T.T. felt rather alone, something he had never felt before.

Little did he know that the feeling was mutual.


	6. Splinter

Banjo-Kazooie: Fracture

Chapter 5: Splinter

The rain subsided and the sun set as Bumper unloaded cargo from a recently docked ship. As monotonous as the job was, it was the best he could do to help out the Resistance, for interesting types frequented the Docks, and these types often let special information slip.

Placing another crate down, a bit of laughter caught his ear. He turned to see a small group of kids caught up in a game of horseplay with one another. The badger smiled at the sight. He had always had a soft spot for kids given he had grown up in a neighborhood with lots of small children. He remembered keeping an eye on many different kids whenever their parents were away; he was their self-proclaimed "big brother."

A figure darting off toward the run down Police Station broke him out of his reverie. Curiosity got the better of him and he decided to follow. Carefully navigating the long abandoned construction site, Bumper found himself a hiding place behind a grated door, a spot just close enough to eavesdrop on the two weasel officers across the way.

"You got it?"

"Yeah, right here." He handed his companion a folded piece of paper.

The other weasel quickly unfolded the sheet, looking over its contents carefully. From what Bumper could see, it looked like a blueprint.

"This the new vehicle Uptown's issuing?" He asked, confirming Bumper's suspicion.

"That's where I got it from, right from the Don himself."

"Th' Don?" Bumper said quietly to himself, and continued to listen.

The weasel looked over the blueprint again, "Hmm, smoke sphere, chameleon, grenade guns, torpediles, this thing has everything!"

"It also has an… interesting shape."

The weasel raised an eyebrow, taking a closer look at the paper.

"I guess it does…"

"So what should we do with it?"

"Just put it inside for now." The weasel officer said, heading inside the police station and leaving the blueprint.

The two left.

Feeling the coast was clear, Bumper emerged from his hiding place, cautiously ambling toward the police station. Conveniently, the front door was left unlocked. Thinking they'd be back when they realized this, Bumper quickly disappeared inside, quickly scanning the lobby for any signs of the blueprint. Finding it lying on a desk, the badger quickly took off out of the police station.

Little did he know that a Spy-I-Cam had seen his every move.

* * *

"A museum… yes, a museum across town," L.O.G. muttered as more of his memories became clear to him, "it has something to do with you, Banjo."

Night had now fallen over Showdown Town; the darkness was soon pierced by the faint light of a portal opening up in the gazebo by the lake.

"That's weird," Banjo began, "shouldn't LOGBOX720 be the next world?"

"Who cares? I never liked that place anyway," Kazooie remarked. "Anyways, can we get going?"

"Wait!"

Banjo whirled around to see Bumper racing towards them, with something in his grasp.

"Hey Bumper, did you find anything?"

"Sure did, take a look." He handed over the blueprint.

"_Shadow Puppet_?" Banjo asked, going over the drawing.

"Yeah, I over 'eard some officers talkin' 'bout some new vehicle o' sorts, thought I'd check it out."

"Think this is the only copy?" Banjo queried.

"Seems t' be."

"Geez, this thing's loaded!" Kazooie marveled at the design of _Shadow Puppet_, before noticing something strange.

"Banjo, does this thing remind you of Terrydactyland at all?"

Wondering what she meant, Banjo looked over the paper, seeing too what she saw.

"Kazooie…" he shot her a look of disapproval.

"What! It does look like that!"

Rolling his eyes, Banjo returned to Bumper.

"Thanks for this, it's in good hands."

"No problem, mate," the badger smiled before returning to his post.

Handing the blueprint to Kazooie, Banjo headed inside Mumbo's Motors to begin work on this strange new vehicle.

* * *

"I used to work as a Guvnor at Grunty Industries," the veteran police officer said as he and the mouse girl made their way back to the Town Square, "Waving a wrench around and yelling at slacking workers. Not the best job in the world, but it put food on the table for me and the boys surprisingly."

"Boys?" Pipsy asked.

"My kids, Piggles, Trotty, and Chris."

"Chris?" The name seemed a bit strange for a pig.

"Chris P. Bacon," Pikelet corrected.

"Oh."

* * *

Bottles scurried across town as fast as his stumpy legs would carry him. Banjoland's recent opening alerted the mole to the duo's presence in town, and brought him out of his temporary hiding place: a dirt hill on the lakeshore. Being the center of information in Showdown Town, even in these times, had its benefits. This particular bit of information would definitely help the bear and bird in the museum.

Spotting Mumbo's Motors in the distance, Bottles found Banjo and Kazooie wheeling out an odd, black vehicle with a distinct shape.

"Banjo!" The mole huffed, still tired from his run, "I'm so glad to see you."

"Oh, just him, huh?" Kazooie retorted, "Who cares about Kazooie right?"

"Exactly," Bottles replied with a smirk, he had grown used to the verbal abuse he had sustained over the years.

"Anyways, what do you have there?"

"Something those coppers won't be happy with us having…" Kazooie commented.

"This is _Shadow Puppet_. Bumper found the blueprint in the police station. I think it's some kind of stealth vehicle." The bear explained.

"That's perfect then!" Bottles expounded, startling the two slightly, "Well y'see, as the town info provider, I hear a lot of things."

"What did you hear?" Banjo asked.

Bottles took a breath, adjusting his glasses. "Banjoland has apparently been reworked into a high security prison."

"WHAT?"

"Typical," Kazooie said, shaking her feathered head.

"It definitely explains the absence of a few faces around town…" Bottles said quietly.

This worried Banjo a bit.

"Why, who's missing?"

Bottles wished he hadn't asked.

"Well, Mr. Fit, Boggy, Klungo, and even Jolly haven't been around lately."

"Oh, no."

"Not escort missions!" Kazooie lamented, placing a wing to her forehead.

"I'm afraid so," the mole shook his head, "But you'll be fine! You've got _Shadow Puppet_ there to help infiltrate the museum," he paused, "and you've got me!"

There was silence for a moment.

"Do I really have to say something to that?" the breegull girl asked.

"No."

"Good, it would have been too easy."

"What can you do anyway, Bottles?" Banjo asked.

"I was the curator for Banjoland, and with my technical expertise from LOGBOX720, I can tell you everything you need to know."

"Sounds good, so you're coming with us then?"

"Only to the front gates, you're on your own from there. But I will be able to contact you through this." He produced three headsets from his jacket.

"I call these the Attach-N-Chat Headsets," the mole stated. "Just put one on and you can talk to me from wherever you are."

Kazooie looked the devices over, "They're just 360 headsets."

"Don't say it out-! Good job, now you have to pay me twenty notes just to use them,"

"Why?"

"Big Guns upstairs says so, also that payment's good for about three months."

Banjo shrugged, pocketed two of the devices and paid four silver notes. Bottles kept the other one. He was about to drive off in his new vehicle when Pipsy and Pikelet approached the auto shop.

"Banjo, we know how L.O.G. lost his memory," Pipsy began. "Grunty overpowered him and stole his memory."

"Comes to absolutely no surprise," Kazooie added.

"Well-"

Pikelet felt the need to take over, "The chip broke into pieces and scattered itself around, and that witch captured Klungo."

"Oh really, and how would you know all this?" the breegull asked.

"I was there when it happened. And I'm coming with you." The porcine said, growing serious.

"Oh come on, an escort mission going in too?" The bird complained.

"Why do you want to go anyway?" the bear felt the need to inquire.

"I let him be captured. The least I can do is to help in his rescue." Pikelet concluded.

"Well, okay then." Banjo sighed.

The newly formed group found their way up to the lake and disappeared into the portal.

"I hope they'll be okay…" Pipsy said aloud.

"They will be."

She was a little startled to see the form of the Lord of Games suddenly floating next to her.

"Don't underestimate them," the deity said, starring off into the lake, "I have… a feeling… that I once did. One I quickly renounced."

The girl nodded, her uneasiness only slightly relieved.

* * *

The quartet materialized at the front gates of the museum, Banjo at the wheel of _Shadow Puppet_. He placed his headset around his head as Kazooie did with hers.

"So, I guess this is where we leave you?"

"Yup," Bottles replied, fixing his headset slightly, "just a minute though…"

The mole began fiddling with the gate's control panel, hacking away at it until a creak signaled that they had finally given way.

"Y'know we could have just blasted our way through," the bird remarked.

"But that wouldn't have been very sneaky now would it?" Pikelet added.

"Alright Bottles, see you in a bit!" Banjo concluded, activating the Chameleon and driving in.

"Be careful everyone!"

"Banjo, will you hit the lights or something? It's pitch black in here!"

Upon the request, Banjo switched on the lights, suddenly wishing he hadn't. The bear couldn't tell what was more disturbing: the severed heads of the statue of he and Kazooie lying in pieces strewn about on the polished floor, or the fact that Jolly Dodger took the place of the Submarine Transformation prop in the glass case before them.

"Hey, no fair, don't blind me! Put your lights out!" the frog cried, covering his eyes with webbed hands.

"Calm down, pretty boy it's only us," Kazooie spoke.

The amphibian lowered his hands, allowing his eyes to adjust to the light, "Oh, Banjo, Bird Brain! It's so fabulous to see you!"

"Where is everyone Jolly?" Banjo asked.

"…Oh pooh, no: 'It's so nice to see you too, Jolly' at all?"

No one said anything.

"Oh fine then," Jolly huffed. "If you must know, they're being held in the other glass cases around here. There's more too; I saw them bring a dog and a squirrel in here."

"Who's 'them?'" Pikelet queried.

"Those horrid Gruntbots of course, we never stood a chance!"

"No problem, we'll take care of them and bust the prisoners out of here!" Kazooie trilled with excitement.

"Not so fast now," Bottles' voice chimed over the headset, "there are still those cameras about, and no doubt they've been activated. You'll have to disable them first; take the Gruntbots by surprise when they can't see what's happening."

"And how do we do that, Bottles?" Banjo said, adjusting the mic on his headset. "The wrench still doesn't work."

"Simple, Chicken Legs will use one of her feathers as a lock pick. The control panel is right below the cameras."

"Sounds pretty good Goggle Boy, you have a name for it?"

"Unfortunately I'm out of those."

"_Right_."

Ignoring the comment, the mole continued, "You'll find the cameras in the same places you found them last time. There are a total of five: one atop the Golden Goliath, one on the Rusty Bucket, one under the bridge, one in Terry's Nest, and one on one of Clanker's pieces. Did you get all that?"

"Roger that," Banjo affirmed.

"What? Do you want me big bear?" The frog called.

"Good! I'll talk with you later, Bottles out."

Banjo turned to his feathered friend, "Why don't you try it out Kazooie. Try picking the lock on the cell."

"We can't just blow it up?"

"No."

"Oh fine."

Plucking a feather, Kazooie inserted it into the padlock on the cell, moving it around until the lock clicked open.

"Oh, I owe you something special, Big Bear…" Jolly cooed, grabbing his briefcase.

"Uh, no you don't owe me anything…" Banjo quickly replied.

Jolly was visibly disappointed, "Well if you ever want a little fun-"

"Goodbye Jolly," Kazooie interrupted, already pushing him towards the exit.

"Hey, not so hard!"

"He's an… interesting fellow, isn't he?" Pikelet gestured to the frog.

"Oh yes," Banjo answered, shuddering at what sort of "fun" Jolly had in mind.

* * *

Banjo urged _Shadow Puppet _over the bridge, gazing at the surrounding area. Coding still lined various areas of the museum: the Freezeezy Peak display was gone, and he couldn't see the Loggo replica. Kazooie poked her head out of the backpack.

"He's gonna get us caught," she said, gesturing to Pikelet waddling after them.

"What makes you say that?"

"… Really Banjo, you can't exactly miss someone like him."

"Right," Banjo nodded, "So what do we do?"

"Can you kids slow down a bit? I'm too old for this…"

"Apparently," Kazooie muttered as the vehicle came to a halt.

"This isn't working is it?"

"No," the pig gasped, "Not too well."

Pikelet squinted, the faint light from the only window in the museum allowing him to make out a small shape in the distance.

"Banjo," he pointed with a hoof, "shine your torch over there."

The bear did as he was told, revealing a box marked "Mumbo's Motors."

"Now what's this doing here?" the bear questioned.

Pikelet opened the box to reveal, oddly enough, another box, although one made to fit on a vehicle.

"A box in a box?" Kazooie raised an eyebrow.

"I have an idea…"

The pig hefted the box upside down, and slipped underneath it. He lifted it and began to walk.

"Oh yeah, a walking box isn't noticeable at all…"

"Come on Kazooie, I think it's a good idea. He at least has some form of cover."

"That's right birdy," the veteran answered, his gruff voice muffled under the box, "I can look on my own with this at my own pace. Besides, it'll be faster if we split up."

"He does have a point," the bear thought to himself, "but we can't contact you, what if something happens?"

"The bird doesn't need a communicator does she?"

"Yeah, take it," she threw the headset to him. "I can't stand listening to Beetle Breath anyway."

"That settles it then," Pikelet stated, "I'll catch up with you kids later." And with that, he hobbled off with the box in tow.

"Wait a second," Banjo plucked one of Kazooie's feathers, ushering a sharp squawk and a glare from the bird, "use this if you find any of the cameras."

He only nodded, taking the feather and leaving in the opposite direction.

"Good riddance, he was slowing us down…" Kazooie muttered.

"I heard that, Feather Face," Pikelet's voice sounded through the receiver.

The breegull rotated the microphone towards her, "Just making sure, Porky."

* * *

Banjo and Kazooie made their way about the prison, disabling the cameras as they came upon them as did Pikelet on his side of the building.

"How many have you deactivated?" Banjo spoke into the mic.

"Two so far, and yourself?"

"Also two, we'll get the last one by the Golden Goliath."

"Roger that, over."

_Shadow Puppet_'s roaming spotlights disturbed the slumber of one cell's occupant as it passed the Rusty Bucket display. The red squirrel stirred, holding an arm up to block the light from his tired eyes. He lowered it slightly as realization hit him: who would be up scouring the prison compound this late at night? Sitting up, he crawled somewhat painfully towards the glass for a better look. Some sort of vehicle was sitting below the cell. A stocky figure hopped from the driver's seat and ran passed his cell. The squirrel watched the figure as a lither form seemed to separate from the first one. They used a sort of tool and soon another shape joined them before running off. This one had stepped into the light revealing itself to be an aardvark. Perhaps he should try to enlist their help?

Watching Mr. Fit sprint away, Banjo returned to Shadow Puppet, driving it closer to the next cell. They'd be finished in no time.

A sort of knocking caught Kazooie's attention, "Hey Banjo, I think you missed one." She motioned to a case behind them.

"Seems I did."

The bear backed up the vehicle, aiming the lights inside the glass. He was not prepared for what he was about to see.

A red squirrel dressed in army fatigues had himself glued against the glass before them. Blue eyes seemed to try to decipher who they were through the dark. Banjo removed himself from _Shadow Puppet_, stepping into the light so he could get a better look.

"C-Conker? Is that you?"

Conker stared at the bear before him for a moment; yellow shorts, a blue backpack, and a shark tooth necklace. It couldn't be.

"Banjo?"

The bear looked at Kazooie, "Get him out of there."

Kazooie made quick work of the lock, deciding to go for the others while she was at it. She left the two alone.

Conker got himself out of the case, wincing a bit as he made his descent.

"What'd you do to your leg?"

"My squad and I were sent to patrol the waters close to Showdown Town when our ship was sunk. They had heavy firepower, we did not. I don't know if they made it."

It was then that Banjo noticed the burns he had on his leg. He made a face, it looked painful, and he wasn't putting much weight on it.

"So you know why I'm here, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"We're here on a rescue mission. A few of our friends are being held captive."

"Funny, because that statue at the front there, from what I saw of it, it looked like you."

"Well it is, but-"

"Banjo!"

The two were soon confronted by Kazooie with Boggy in tow.

"Who's the girl?" Conker asked.

"That's Kazooie, she's a friend of mine."

"A _friend_?" Conker paused, "Alright then…"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" the breegull asked, placing her wings on her hips.

"Oh nothing." Conker smirked.

"Banjo, Banjo come in! Do you copy, do you read?" The mole said, surprising the bear.

"I can read, I'm not the best but I can read."

There was silence on the other end although Banjo thought he heard a smacking sound.

"What are you doing in there? Are you done yet?"

"Almost," Banjo fiddled with the microphone, "we got everyone out."

"Good, what about the cameras?"

"Well-"

"I got that one already, you were taking too long," Kazooie butt in, "Found a memory chip in the box too."

"Alright, the cameras are all off."

"Good work Banjo, now get out of there before you get caught."

"He's right you know," Boggy added, "and before I forget Banjo, they didn't give me a lot to eat here, so I tried eating this thing I found in my cell. It's not edible." He handed a memory chip to his ursine friend.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm heading out of here, I'm not getting any overtime being here." And with that, the massive polar bear made his way toward to museum entrance.

"Well, I guess we can get-"

"Banjo! We can't leave yet, we haven't found Klungo, um over." Pikelet shouted over the receiver.

"No luck on your side, Pikelet?"

"Zilch."

"And then there's that dog that's here too…" Banjo murmured.

"Dog? What dog?" Bottles questioned.

"We don't know, Jolly tipped us off that there were more prisoners."

"Really? Besides the dog, who else was there?"

"A friend of mine, Conker."

"Name doesn't ring a bell, but I'll meet him soon enough."

"Who's this Klungo guy you keep talking about?" the squirrel asked, tired of being in the dark.

"Another friend of ours, the thing is we can't find him anywhere." Banjo lamented.

The squirrel folded his arms, "Could you describe him for me?"

"Ugly."

"Kazooie!"

"A bit more would be nice." Conker tapped his foot impatiently.

"Well, he's kind of big, he's green, has a hunched back, and usually wears a lab coat." Banjo answered.

"Sounds familiar to me."

"You saw him?" Banjo's expression visibly brightened.

"I think so, some weasels were dragging him off-" He paused, noticing a large reproduction of what appeared to be a toilet that hadn't been there a moment ago, "…in that direction. They said something about it being 'Feeding Time.'"

That didn't sound good.

"Um, Bottles? Are you there?"

"Right here, Banjo."

"You said that Loggo's bowl leads to the Cut for Deadlines room, right?"

"Err, yes, yes I did, and it _does_ go there."

"What exactly in the Cut for Deadlines Room would need 'feeding?'"

No response.

"Hello?"

"Mecha Piddles."

"W-what?!"

"It was a planned boss. But alas, it's in the Cut for Deadlines Room. Why?"

Only the sounds of the newly reestablished snow machine pervaded the silence.

"You don't think Klungo's down there, do you?" the pig suddenly made his presence known.

"That's exactly what I think."

"Th-there's no time to waste then! Y-you'll have to go down there and get him." Bottles hastily concluded, "I'll… I'll open the way!"

The floor began to shake as the Loggo replica's bowl began to open. As it grew wider, the sounds of a cat, a _large_ one, began filtering out.

"I think I understand Gregg a bit now," Conker muttered.

"Let's go."

Banjo helped Conker limp over as Kazooie ran ahead, already finding Pikelet waiting for them.

"You're quick when you need to be, huh?"

"I'm ignoring that." The porcine shot back.

Banjo and Conker eventually arrived.

"You don't think you're coming with us, do you?" the bird asked, noticing the squirrel's limp.

"I can manage," Conker replied, it wouldn't be the first time he'd fought with a hurt leg. "The question is can you three manage by yourselves?"

"It'll hardly be a challenge," Kazooie stretched her wings.

"No offense, but you should probably get out of here, you're already hurt, and I'm guessing it's a long way down." The bear explained, "How could you fight anyway?"

"You're not changing my mind, Banjo," the squirrel responded, "and as for how I'll fight…" he removed a Krotch forty-five from a pocket, "they missed one."

The bear sighed in defeat, "Okay then."

The group approached the menacing toilet bowl situated in the floorboards.

"Bottom's up?" Kazooie nudged Conker a bit.

"Ladies first…" he said, presenting the way to her.

The breegull girl quickly whacked the squirrel into the hole, his screams soon blocking the roars of the creature down below.

"KAZOOIE!"

"HAPPY LANDINGS, BUSHY BUTT!"

Banjo thought he heard him swear but it was too muffled to tell.

"Oh my."

"Well if you kids aren't gonna go, then I'm goin' next."

Pikelet sat himself on the rim and pushed off, letting out a wail as he went down.

"In retrospect, he should have gone down first…" the bird remarked, quickly realizing she was alone as Banjo had already disappeared down the hole. She soon followed.

* * *

Conker landed quite softly as he exited the chute. He stood, brushing sand off of himself, and looked around. He was in a sort of western world, the sun hanging in the sky along with strings of computer coding; the wind blew messy tumble weeds about. Cacti littered the landscape along with old, abandoned, buildings; a ghost town.

The sand suddenly erupted next to him as Pikelet made his entrance. Banjo and Kazooie shortly followed, albeit with more graceful landings. Pikelet shook himself of the sand, placing his cap back on his head.

"Banjo? Banjo?! BANJOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The ursine flinched as the cry rang through his head. Kazooie flipped the microphone her way.

"Shut up, Goggle Boy, he's right here!"

"Oh okay, I lost contact with you for a moment a kind of flipped out. Sorry about that."

"Any idea where we are?" Conker asked.

"I think this is Weird West, or what's left of it anyway." Banjo slowly took in his surroundings.

"So where's the cat?"

As if on cue, the beast burst through a sand dune in the distance, playfully chasing after a green creature in what appeared to be a white lab coat.

"Klungo!" The bear gasped.

"THAR SHE BLOWS!" Kazooie added.

"C'mon!"

The duo rushed in, with Conker and Pikelet tagging behind. Noticing the impeding rush, the colossal cat lost interest in the ogre, turning its gaze to its new prey.

Kazooie began her attack by tossing a few grenade eggs, which harmlessly bounced off of the creature's body. Conker added a few shots of his own to no avail.

"What works on this thing?" The squirrel shouted over the battle.

"How should we know, nothing about it's been released!" Kazooie shot back.

"This thing doesn't look much like a mech," Banjo spoke, continuing his trek toward the beast without hesitation.

In the distance, the duo could see Klungo pull out some sort of flask from his coat. Having enough of being chased, he chucked the container in the face of the beast as it turned back to him. Letting out a shrill howl, the monster stumbled about, crushing a few of the houses that made up the scenery. It appeared to be over reacting to such an assault, but on further inspection this was definitely not the case. Klungo, in a last ditch attempt at saving himself, had thrown a container full of acid at the beast; the chemical rapidly ate away at the fur and flesh of the creature, revealing its mechanical makeup.

"I stand corrected."

The breegull repeated her earlier tactic of firing grenade eggs at the beast, chipping away at its mechanical innards as she went. Conker backed her up with a few rounds from his firearm. Pikelet withdrew his small laser pistol, issued to him by L.O.G. in the Terrarium of Terror. He fired a few shots, striking every time.

"Think its time for a more intimate approach?"

Banjo was silent for a moment, "…Not like that…"

Kazooie slapped him, "No, with a Clockwork Egg."

"Oh."

Unleashing the little wonder, the metal bird made its merry way over to the monstrosity. The cat stopped its tirade, lowering itself to see the tiny object waddling toward it. It promptly swallowed the bait.

"What was that?"

"It's the most adorable bomb you've ever seen, squirrely," Kazooie assured. "Kitty bites the bird, birdie bites back."

The Clockwork Kazooie exploded within the mech, throwing parts of the beast everywhere. Mecha Piddles stumbled around a bit before letting out one last cry and dropping to the ground with a thud, glowing eyes dimming to nothing.

"Wasn't too hard," Conker said happily, putting away his firearm.

"Maybe a bit too easy…" The veteran commented under his breath.

Klungo rushed towards the group, throwing himself at Banjo in what appeared to be an attempt at a hug.

"Bear sssave Klungo from kitty!"

"It wasn't just me, Klungo." Banjo laughed, struggling to breathe under the ogre's weight.

"Yeah, I helped too, now GET OFF!" the breegull gasped under the combined mass of both of them.

Letting them up, Klungo brought his focus to Conker and Pikelet.

"Sssquirell essscape, pig man too!" Klungo exclaimed, giving a rather strong pat on the back to them both.

"Yeah, it's good to see you too, big guy." Conker managed to spit out under the well-intentioned pounds.

"I'm sorry."

Klungo noticed the now down-trodden officer.

"I shouldn't have left you behind like that; I was a coward for doing so. It's not what we were taught to do while on the force," he paused for a breath, "It's not something a friend should do either…"

Klungo seemed to ponder something for a moment, "Friend in need isss friend indeed. Pig helpsss Klungo anyway. I sssee him asss friend."

He seemed surprised at this, "Really? Even after-"

Klungo nodded.

"Will you two wrap it up already? Banjo's crying over here."

"No I'm not! I just have some sand in my eye…"

"Not pig'sss fault. Klungo ssshould have known not to visssit missstresss Grunty. Ssshould have been fassster too." The ogre gave a goofy smile.

Pikelet seemed ready to tear up. The two hugged.

"Awwww-can we go now?"

"Kazooie, stop being insensitive!"

"I think we probably should get going Banjo…" Conker said, oddly briskly.

"Why do you say that?"

A rumbling noise suddenly came from behind them. Mecha Piddles' eyes regained their horrifying yellow glow as it stood, letting out an awful screech. It charged

"Kazooie!"

"I'm on it!" The bird dug around inside the backpack, searching for Grenade Eggs.

"ANYTIME NOW!"

"I'm all out!"

"Look's like we're hoofing it!"

"Banjo, Do you read?! What's happening down there?!"

"We're not hanging around to find out," the bear quickly glanced back at the quickly advancing cat, "thing's just got out of hand!"

"Okay! I'm reversing the suction of Loggo's pipe now, get out of there!"

"Don't need to tell us twice!" Kazooie shouted into the mic as Banjo ran.

The group ran towards the pipe extending from the wall. As he ran, Pikelet saw that Mecha Piddles would end up there way before their little group did.

It was then that he stopped in his tracks.

"PIKELET! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"He's not running anymore..."

"WELL, I CAN SEE THAT!"

Removing his pistol from its holster, he made his way toward the cat.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Banjo screamed over his shoulder.

"JUST GIT OUTTA HERE, I CAN HANDLE THIS!" The Veteran yelled back.

"No you can't…" Banjo said solemnly.

Making sure they were still leaving, Pikelet turned back to his adversary.

"I'm not running anymore."

The cat brought its attention down to the one thing standing in the way of dinner. It stepped aside, only to be followed by the pig.

"Here kitty, kitty… you ain't goin' nowhere…" he smirked devilishly.

As he neared the pipe and felt the suction drawing him in, Banjo looked to the monstrosity behind him. The last thing he saw before the Cut for Deadlines room disappeared from his eyes was Pikelet, with Mecha Piddles looming over him dangerously.

* * *

Bumper sighed, placing the last crate down on the dock as the ship began pulling away from port. It would be the last one of the day. He brought his gaze over to the small group of children playing together near some cargo. He smiled, before feeling a light pat on his shoulder.

"Good job t'day, mate."

"Thanks."

He watched his fellow worker leave, going back to watching the kids afterwards. One of the children, a little rhino boy stopped, a confused look on his face.

"Hey," he spoke.

"What is it?" the penguin girl asked.

"Shhh…"

Bumper heard it; sirens, and the roar of engines, _lots of them_. Deciding to see where they were coming from, Bumper rushed over to the police station. A strange noise caught his ear, and looking up, he saw it. A Spy-I-Cam had locked onto him.

They were coming for _him_.

The badger quickly turned back, seeing dock workers and the children still present and unaware at the dockyard.

"_No…_"

"EVERYONE, GET OUT OF HERE! SEEK SHELTER, NOW!"

"Wazza meanin' o' this-"

"NOW, QUICKLY! BEFORE-"

The whistle of a torpedile silenced him as it took out a load of cargo. The police were already upon them. Bumper looked wildly about, somewhat relieved that he didn't have to warn them twice as the workers and civilians had already begun to flee. His eyes widened in realization as the kids weren't among the masses.

They weren't far away from him however; Bumper could hear them whimpering a little ways away, hiding amongst a stack of crates.

Another torpedile whizzed by him and decimated another batch of cargo nearby. A squad car positioned itself not far from him, readying its weaponry, and aiming at the final shipment left on the dock. The one the children were using for cover.

It was now or never.

As the weapon was fired, Bumper made a mad dash towards the kids, pushing them out of the way of the incoming blast. His whole body shook violently as the torpedile contacted its target, throwing them onto the ground. They were amazingly unhurt.

"Get out of here now! RUN!" The badger shouted, making himself appear as scary as possible. As much as he hated frightening at them, he had no other choice. They could either fear him or be killed. As the kids took their leave, Bumper caught his breath, his heart pounding away in his chest, threatening to burst out.

He could have sworn his heart stopped as a maniacal laugh resonated from behind him. Standing in the rubble of the cargo, was a Gruntbot, a black warning sign painted on it.

Before he could react, it detonated, sending him flying into the air as an excruciating pain rocketed through his right shoulder. He instinctively grasped, feeling blood seep between his fingers. Water exploded around him as he landed, everything soon turning red around him before his world went black.


	7. Fragment

Chapter 6: Fragment

Ominous banging sounded from the inside of the museum, shaking the earth outside. Bottles paced about nervously, debating whether he should stay and wait for Banjo and co. or to high tail it back to Showdown Town. As the minutes passed, the mole was beginning to fear the worst.

"C'mon, hurry!" Banjo urged, hauling the others out of Loggo's Bowl. The bear hopped into _Shadow Puppet_.

"...Bear need bigger vehicle, not enough room for Klungo and squirrely thing."

"…Thing?"

Kazooie folded her wings, "So, pile awkwardly on top of it!"

Finding no other options, Klungo and Conker did as they were told.

"STEP ON IT, BANJO!" Kazooie trilled over the sounds of blaring alarms and the incoming Gruntbot mob.

"I THINK I PREFERRED WHEN IT WAS QUIETER!" Conker joined in the yelling.

"MECHA PIDDLES MUST HAVE SET OFF THE ALARMS!" Banjo hollered back, firing a few grenade rounds at a blockade of Gruntbots.

_Shadow Puppet_ rounded the lake carefully, passing the Mad Monster Mansion exhibit. As the Cloud Cuckooland display came into view, Banjo could have sworn he heard a dog.

"Kazooie? Do you hear something… barking?"

She paused to listen, "Yeah… hey, wasn't a dog being held here?"

Sure enough, a medium sized dog was trapped inside the Jinjo display case, pawing at the glass and yapping. It seemed to be wearing some sort of armor.

"What do we do?!" Conker shouted, looking back at the advancing throng of Grunty's mechanical minions.

"Sorry, little guy!" The breegull said, firing a grenade gun at the cell.

"KAZOOIE!"

The dog emerged from the rubble, shaking itself over before running off.

Banjo began driving again, "Good job, Kazooie, you probably scared it!"

"No… I think he's just fine, Banjo." The bird motioned with her wing.

"…Rocket propelled feet?"

"I guess so…"

Avoiding various obstacles between him and salvation, Banjo pressed on, almost crashing into a freshly gaping hole.

"What the- where's Clanker?"

"Forget about him, look! There's the exit!"

A string of cackles from beyond the Gobi's Valley exhibit alerted the group to approaching Gruntbots. They were soon surrounded at the base of the ruined statue.

"Figures this always has to happen in these kinds of situations…" Kazooie grumbled.

Banjo tightened his grip on the controls, "Bottles, do you copy?"

"R-right here, Banjo, what is it?"

"Open the gate."

As he commanded, the gate creaked open.

"Hold on, guys!"

Banjo maneuvered Shadow Puppet so that it faced the statue, before throwing into reverse, hailing grenades and torpediles down on the unsuspecting foes. Amazingly, the group made it outside.

A rumbling sound shook the floor and, retrieving Bottles, Banjo rushed away from the site of the building as it sank into the ground, a memory chip miraculously flying out of the failing structure.

Kazooie collected the item, "Y'know, these things sure have a habit of appearing right when you want them to…"

"Well now, never expected that to happen…" Bottles broke the silence, adjusting his signature glasses.

"Never expected to lose Pikelet either…" Banjo said solemnly.

"Wait a minute," Bottles expression was one of disbelief, "You're not saying he's…?!"

"Dead? Not this piece of pork…"

Banjo felt himself freeze, as a voice he felt sure he'd never hear again sounded behind him. They turned to see the rather mangled form of Pikelet, brushing dirt and dust off himself.

"P-P-Pikelet?!"

"Don't underestimate a member of the force, punk," He winked.

"Yaaaaaaaaay…" Kazooie added unenthusiastically while Klungo and Bottles cheered. Conker just nodded, although a smile seemed to spread across his face.

"So, that giant, metal muncher wasn't inside the prison at all…" the bird said, interrupting the moment, "Care to explain why?"

Bottles stopped his cheering for a moment, fixing his glasses again, "Well, given you guys had all the cameras disabled, I thought it the opportune moment to remove Clanker from that wretched place because, unlike George and Mildred there, he was very much sentient."

"I noticed that, and to be honest, I felt a little sad to see him like that…" Banjo spoke.

"I think we all did, but anyways, I recruited Mumbo and Humba for the job of removing his pieces. I think they set him adrift in the Seaside."

"Sure it's spacious enough for him? He seems… bigger since we've seen him last…"

"I should hope so; I assumed they knew what they were doing…"

"Well you know what they say about assuming…"

"Let's keep it clean, Kazooie…"

The witch watched as Banjo and co. emerged from the portal to Banjoland.

"The stupid bear wins again! His successes are really quite inane!"

Gruntilda paced the Factory's penthouse agitatedly, ready to lash out at anything without question. She did a double take at one surveillance image in particular. Approaching the output screen for a better look, Grunty eyed her feline assistant, Piddles, together with a blue-haired cat.

"Now what could this be that I'm viewing? Piddles better know what she's doing!"

"So I can guarantee you won't try to steal something?" TT joked, opening the door for his guest.

"Not like there's anything of value in here anyway…" Piddles thought to herself, gazing around the house.

"It's not much right now; call it a work in progress," he said, folding his arms in content.

Not much indeed. The living room only consisted of a bookcase, sofa, television set, and coffee table. She could see a small staircase leading up in a corner of the house, along with two other rooms branching off of the main one in which she assumed to be a bathroom and kitchen.

"No it's fine, it's…cute," the cat chose her words carefully.

There was a quiet moment between the two before TT headed towards one of the other rooms, "Well, have a seat I guess. Want anything to drink?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks."

He nodded, before disappearing into the other room.

Piddles sat herself down on the couch, running a hand over the empty cushion.

"Leather…not bad."

Switching positions, she placed an elbow on the armrest, propping her head up with a hand. She glanced over towards the bookcase quickly, a photo catching her attention. Getting up, she meandered towards the bookshelf, taking the picture frame in her hands.

Two young boys were in the photo: a much younger Trophy Thomas, and a tiger boy. The tiger cub had his arms folded on the other child's head, pushing him down and smiling victoriously while the other scowled.

"Cute kid," Piddles spoke before hearing the kitchen door open, TT emerging with a can of Mepsi Pax.

"Who's this?" She asked, showing him the photo.

"Oh, that's me."

"No, the other one."

He sighed, placing the frame face down on the shelf, "That's… Timber. He's… my cousin."

"You embarrassed or something? It's a cute picture, leave it up!" Piddles set the photo upright again.

"I'm not too fond of my cousin," TT said, his expression growing serious.

"Then why do you have this photo then?"

"To remind me of what I have to do…" He said before sitting on the couch.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The girl thought to herself before deciding to change the subject. She sat next to him.

"So, isn't your cousin apart of some resistance?"

TT looked at her curiously, "What do you know about the resistance?"

"Nothing, just a few small things I've heard around town," she said, smirking, "I honestly don't know much about it."

Thomas wasn't sure if the cat was lying or not, he had humored her so far, but wasn't entirely sure if he should trust her with information regarding the opposition. If she was still in league with Grunty, things could be problematic.

"Will you tell me?"

"I don't think I should-"

"…You don't trust me?"

"W-well-"

She crawled over to his side of couch, almost suggestively at first, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Look, I can assure you I'm not in cahoots with that…wench… anymore. It was only because L.O.G. said…" She trailed off. Despite the lies, it felt… good to say what she did.

"Please? I want to help too." She made her most convincing "sincerity" face, inching a bit closer.

The cheetah noticed he was running out of room to scoot away to; she'd be on top of him if he let her come any closer. Removing her arms from his shoulders and pushing her away a bit, he finally capitulated.

"Alright, I'll tell you," he said, "Just stay over there."

Piddles grinned, noticing the strong blush on his face. She didn't know why exactly, but ever since she'd been transformed, getting males to do what she wanted had become surprisingly easy. She was all ears as TT began unfolding the tale of the illustrious Resistance.

Pipsy sat outside Mumbo's Motors, waiting for any sign of Bumper's safe return from the Docks.

"He should be back right now," she said to herself, wondering about his extended absence, "Maybe they got a last minute shipment…"

"Something troubles you?"

The mouse girl noted the Lord of Games silently floating next to her.

"It's Bumper," she explained. "He's-"

"The fellow who brought me out of that watery predicament, correct?"

"Yes, that's him," she smiled although it quickly faded, "He should have returned by now, I hope nothing's happened to him…"

This thought, once planted in her mind, quickly snowballed into other possibilities: "What if he was found out? What if he was captured? What if… he's hurt?"

She stood abruptly, "I'm going after him." With her mind made up, Pipsy was about to leave when the hovering deity placed himself in front of her path.

"Not by yourself."

"Why not?"

He seemed hesitant to respond at first, almost confused as to why he blocked her way in the first place, "I'm not sure. It's just- it doesn't feel right to let you go alone…"

Pipsy was just as confused as L.O.G. was at this new development, "Um, okay you can come if you want to. I'm only heading for the Docks though…"

The deity nodded a "thank you" before following her to the harbor.

As she walked, a strange sound gradually grew louder, eventually overtaking any other sounds in the area. Splashing and squealing reminiscent of a pig, sounded from the small canal travelling through the area.

"Hello? Is someone there; are you alright?" Pipsy called out, before an unusual sight caught her attention. An animal was flopping around in the canal bed, squealing frantically. Pipsy would have identified the creature as a pig if not for the pair of wings protruding awkwardly from its back. She cautiously approached it, taking extra care not to frighten it anymore as she reached pick it up, getting spattered with water from a flailing wing. She noted its light weight as she set it down gently. The creature calmed itself immediately.

"I believe that's a Pigxie…" L.O.G. spoke, hovering about the creature.

"I- I think you're right!"

The Piñata had distorted facial features; one eye was larger than the other, and its snout was crooked. Its mouth was positioned almost on the side of its face, and its wings were disproportionate. A tic would wrack its body, mainly its head repeatedly. One leg was malformed, lending the animal a limp. Despite this, it seemed healthy and in relative comfort albeit wet.

The Pigxie, after a few moments of silence, quickly began wailing again, gesturing to them.

"What's it… doing?" Pipsy asked, watching the Piñata's odd behavior.

"I… think it's trying to show us something…"

The Pigxie half flew, half limped its way along the canal, making much noise the entire way.

"Where is it taking us?" Pipsy questioned aloud.

As the harbor came into view, the girl felt a vise on her heart as she saw a red-tint to the water, along with the pallid, sodden form of her once strong friend lying motionless on the banking.

"Bumper!"

Banjo yawned, stretching his arms over his head, "Well I'm beat. What about you, Kazooie?"

"It's not that late, Banjo. Why don't we go clubbing or something? I hear the Embo Night Spot is pretty good."

"I'm up for that," Conker agreed.

"How could you even think of dancing with your leg the way it is?"

"Dancing? I'd be sitting down having a pint," the squirrel replied.

"Kids…" Pikelet huffed, feeling a bit left out since Bottles had returned to his makeshift hovel across the square, and Klungo had gone back to the pier.

"Hurry up!" A Black Jinjo piped up as it made its way across the Town Square.

"Slow down!" The trailing, Pink Jinjo puffed, jogging after, "It's not like my family is going anywhere!"

"Yeah, but I'd like to get there some night," the other replied, "Y'know like, before we're caught by the police…"

"You don't have to worry about that, I'd protect you!"

"Hah! You can't even protect yourself…"

Banjo eyed a pair of Jinjos crossing over from the Theatre District.

"Is that… two Jinjos not in peril?"

"You're not a very good liar Banjo, haven't we established that?" Kazooie mumbled from inside the backpack.

"I'm not lying! Come out and see for yourself!"

Kazooie grumbled a bit, before emerging from the pack. To her surprise there were two Jinjos seemingly not in some sort of predicament not too far away.

"I think we have a milestone…"

"Hey! Do you guys know where the Pink Jinjo House is?" The Black Jinjo called.

"Um, yeah it's right out on the lake," Banjo replied, not at all surprised that the Jinjos needed help after all.

"I probably shouldn't be swimming…"

"Hey, do you have a small boat or something that we can take over there?" The Pink Jinjo asked hopefully.

"We have a floating trolley."

"That works too," one answered, "Can you help us?"

"What is a Banjo-Kazooie story without obligatory Jinjo helping?" Kazooie asked.

"Thank you!"

Leaving Pikelet and Conker to return to Mumbo's Motors for the night, the Jinjos hopped into the tray of the trolley, Banjo taking to the driver's seat and proceeding to the lake. Ferrying across the lake and reaching the small islet, the two Jinjos disembarked.

"Thanks again for your help!"

"No problem…" Banjo paused, something suddenly dawning on him: did Jinjos beside King Jingaling have names? Or genders even? Curiosity hit the bear full force,

"Do you have names?"

The Jinjos gave each other quizzical looks, before turning back to the duo.

"I'm Senja, and this is Jenser."

"Well it's nice to meet you two then."

"Thanks again!"

"Is there anything else we can do?"

"Badger much unwell, need much time to recover."

Voices, quiet at first, but progressively growing louder; would they keep it down? He already had a splitting headache.

Bumper placed his left hand to his forehead with some difficulty, his arm feeling like a lead weight. He recognized the brick interior of Mumbo's Motors immediately. As he tried to sit up, a sharp pain lanced through his chest and shoulder. He instinctively grasped his shoulder, gritting his teeth and wincing. When the pain subsided, it occurred to him that he was touching some sort of fabric.

Something _else_ dawned on him as well: his _arm_, _where_ _was his right arm_?

The badger began frantically feeling around his shoulder, grimacing with every touch, praying it was some sort of twisted dream.

"C'mon mate, wake up, j-jus' wake up already!" His mind was reeling, his heart threatening to dislodge itself from his chest; his body violently quivered.

"Bumper! Snap out of it!" Pipsy exclaimed, shaking his left shoulder roughly.

A little panicked himself, and not knowing quite what else to do, Mumbo took matters into his owns hands. Producing his wand from some unseen area, the shaman gave the traumatized Bumper a quick whack on the head.

Pipsy was taken aback by this motion, however it seemed to work. She gave Mumbo a questioning look.

"Clever Shaman usually save for when silly mole loose it, but effective when others do too," Mumbo answered, letting the two be.

"Thank you…" Pipsy called, before turning back to her stricken friend.

"Are you okay?"

"_Go_."

"But-"

"_GET OUT!_"

She only nodded before hastily and silently leaving herself.

Bumper flopped back down on the makeshift bed (a bench from outside), eyeing the cloth covering his shoulder. It was very soft, purple in color and with yellow bordering. He placed his remaining hand to his forehead again, before lifting it again to see it. Left; he'd have to learn to write again. Heaving a sigh, he tried to get some rest.

Pipsy sat on a worn out bench outside of Mumbo's Motors, contemplating on what to do next. It had been several hours since she'd left Bumper to himself. What was he thinking right now? Should she be with him now instead of outside? Was he okay?

She scoffed at the last though, "'Is he okay'… someone who loses their arm _isn't_ okay…" As much as she wanted to be with him during this time, she was scared to confront him, what if he yelled again? He'd… never yelled like that at her before.

"Has he awoken?"

Broken out of her reverie, the startled girl met the gaze of her creator, "Yes, but… he wants to be… alone… for now."

"Understandable," L.O.G. spoke, trying to get used to the newfound hole in his robe.

Little did they know that the tail end of a certain Pigxie had just disappeared into the shop.

The purple Piñata fumbled along in the dark, quietly wishing it was brighter. As luck should have it, his wing clipped something on the shelf, sending it and its contents crashing on top of him.

Bumper opened his eyes immediately upon hearing muffled squealing and clanging noises, now what?

"Oi, who's there?" The badger reached for a spotlight on the floor, switched it on, and searched the surrounding area before coming across a purple and now green creature with a bucket on its head.

The Piñata eventually knocked the paint can loose, sitting on the floor and starring at him. It twitched a little.

"'Ey, come over 'ere…"

The Pigxie did as it was told, waddling over to him as he lay on the bed.

Bumper got a better look at the creature now, watching its body convulse. He noticed the deformed face and limp. He set the light down.

"So you're a… Pigxie, right?" He asked, petting the pig.

"Ain't these things abandoned or attacked at birth?" He thought to himself.

As he stroked it, it seemed to ease up a bit, from what he could see, it looked like it was _smiling_.

"And 'ere 'e is 'appy as a clam…"

"Y'know, it could 'ave been worse," he spoke softly, "And besides, it's no _great_ loss. I've still got another…" He let out a small chuckle, albeit half hearted.

He scratched the little creature behind the ears to its delight,

"Thanks little guy."

"You seem fatigued, you should turn in for the night," L.O.G. spoke.

"I'm fine, honestly…"

"You can't hide out here forever you know…"

"I think you're right there," the mouse girl sighed, stretching before reluctantly leading the way inside, flicking on the lights.

"What happened in here?"

Bumper looked up at them, a smile appearing on his face, "Little guy 'ad an accident." He gestured to the fallen paint can.

Pipsy was dumbstruck; as happy as she was to see him in good spirits, she couldn't help but wonder what had caused his change of heart.

"Sorry for snappin' at you, Pips, you okay?"

"Y-yeah," although she didn't quite show it, the mouse was quite relieved at his words.

"'Ey, I didn't ask you earlier… do you know if th' others made it outta there alright?"

"What?"

Letting out a small sigh, Bumper recounted the tale of the surprise raid on the Docks, what he could remember of it anyway.

"I've yet to hear of any other casualties besides your own," L.O.G. began, "And, I'm sorry this happened to you…"

"It ain't your fault; I should be thanking you," he paused, "Besides, it's better to have lost a limb than a life, right?"

"I suppose…"

There was silence between the three of them, sans an occasional snore from a sleeping Ed.

"Um…," Bumper placed his only hand to his shoulder, "Sorry about your cloak…"

"It hasn't held up well anyways," The monitor replied, noting the scratch marks, holes, tears, and frayed edges of the cloak as well as what remained of the collar decoration, "It's just rubbish now."

"Mumbo? Hello?"

"Anybody home?"

"Shouldn't you say that before entering?"

"Just shut up and sit down."

The group looked up to find Banjo, Kazooie, Pikelet, and Conker standing in the entryway of the auto shop.

"L.O.G.! We've got your-" Banjo paused, noticing a bloody cloth covering Bumper's right shoulder.

"Bumper?! What happened to you?"

As the badger recapped his story for them all, Conker couldn't help but gape at the site of two _more_ people he thought he'd never see again. First Banjo, now Pipsy and Bumper, who would he run into next?

He felt out of place, finding himself looking between Bumper, Pipsy, and Banjo. Banjo didn't look any different than he did years ago, other than a deeper voice, a larger build, and with Kazooie occupying his signature backpack.

The most obvious change in Bumper was his now crippled state, but otherwise he seemed to be the same as before.

Then there was Pipsy.

She sat on the floor with the sleeping Pigxie in her lap. Her hair was a bit longer, her red, polka-dotted bow was much larger, and at the back of her head rather than on top. One thing that remained consistent however, was the sweet aura that he remembered her for.

For a moment, he almost felt ashamed for having changed so much. Would they even recognize him?

He swore quietly as his injured leg started acting up again.

"Perfect timing," he seethed, trying not to draw attention to himself as he shifted his weight to his good leg.

"Oh no…" The area around the injury was turning red, why now of all times?

Deciding to slip away and take care of it himself, Conker tried his best to limp away discreetly, figuring the others would be too engrossed in Bumper's story to pay attention to what he was doing.

He was wrong however, as Pipsy, who had heard the story not long before, decided to investigate upon seeing the squirrel leave suddenly. Placing Ed on the floor gently, she pursued the stranger.

Conker hobbled outside, praying he hadn't been seen by anybody.

"Please no one see me, please no one see me, please no one see-"

"Hey!"

"Damn it," he swore, hearing the last voice he wanted to hear. He turned to meet his pursuer.

"W-what do you want?" He asked, accidently putting weight on his bad leg before quickly switching to the other one. He suddenly wished he hadn't.

"You're… standing kinda funny, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," he lied, another wave of pain threatening to break the fake smile he had put on his face.

"What's that stain on your pant leg?" The mouse girl was growing suspicious.

"Uh-um... it's a… I uh, spilt something there err… earlier. I- hey!"

Pipsy had already flipped his pant leg, gasping at the injury underneath.

"What happened? Why would you hide something like this? It's all burnt and bleeding…"

"It's –ow- not that big of a deal," He replied, "Now can you stop touching it?"

"Not a big deal? This is...," she paused, "Y'know, you remind me of someone…"

Conker raised an eyebrow.

"Stupid kid fell out of his Hovercraft in Boulder Canyon, got hit in the head with a spinning log, and when he came to, insisted it wasn't a problem."

He laughed, "Yeah, and you remind me of the girl who fussed over me when it happened."

Pipsy's gave him a questioning look.

"Nice to see you again, Pipsy."

Realization hit her full force as she was at a near loss of words.

"Oh-oh my God."

The two embraced.

His memories slowly returned to him, an image of a grand Coliseum floated through L.O.G.'s mind.

"I see… a golden stadium. Many fine activities take place here…"

"Another job well done, guys." Banjo said in contentment, folding his arms.

"So we can assume that one of the Jiggoseum doors has opened up on the Docks?" Pikelet asked, new to this whole thing.

"Yup, but that's an adventure for tomorrow. I'm turning in, good night everybody." Banjo concluded, retrieving his backpack and rolling out a mat to sleep on."Sounds good," The officer stretched, "I could use about eighty winks tonight."

"So it's off to the Jiggoseum tomorrow then?" The badger asked.

Banjo stopped for a moment, "I'm not sure about you, Bumper, you should probably stay here, sorry."

Bumper felt his heart sink. He knew the bear was right, but not being able to do _anything_? With a heavy heart, the badger lay down, hearing several assorted "Good Night!"s before darkness and silence was all that encased the room.

"So… that's it?"

"Yup."

"Wow…"

The two cats sat in silence for a moment.

"Uh…," Thomas was growing uncomfortable, "Anything good on TV?"

Reaching for the remote, he clicked on the TV, the screen flickering to reveal a badly drawn and animated stickman in red underwear dancing.

"Is this one of those late night adult TV shows?"

"It's the _Mr. Pants Hour_; I don't know what the point of it is though…"

"Anything else on?" Piddles asked, snatching the remote from TT.

"And now, back to _The Sabre Wulf Hunter_," the speakers sounded as the screen showed a little old man in a khaki uniform behind some bushes.

"My search for the Sabre Wulf has brought me to picturesque Piñata Island," the man narrated, "It's the middle of mating season for the elusive Cocoadile. Cocoadiles refuse to mate until they have nineteen pinometers of water to swim in, and have eaten both a Quackberry and a Sweetooth."

The man turned to the camera, "Look, look, look, over there!" He gestured through the bushes, "I think one of them is about to initiate the romance dance!"

The camera zoomed in on one of the Cocoadiles as it stood on its tail, shaking its head up and down vigorously.

"Yes, yes! There is goes!" He said excitedly as the other Piñata leapt onto its mate's back, joining in on the head movement.

"Unfortunately, that's all the time we have for today, but tune in next week for another exciting episode of _The Sabre Wulf Hunter_, as I continue my futile search for the beast, experiencing the mating rituals of Tigermisus and Kitty floss in the process. Splendiferous!"

The two sat in awe at what they just witnessed before being confronted with the credits.

"_The Sabre Wulf Hunte_r is brought to you in part by Ma Soupswill's Super Soups, and Fiddlesworth Dunfiddlin: 'Pet my Piglet!'"

"Alright, that's enough TV for tonight…" the cheetah concluded, wishing he hadn't touched the remote in the first place.

"Yeah… Cocoadiles… mating…," Piddles fidgeted in her seat, "Are they even allowed to show that?"

"It's late night TV, so I guess they can…"

More silence between them.

"It's late, I need to go," The cat girl said, finality in her voice.

"Where to?"

She had to lose him, "Mumbo's. See you later."

TT was a bit confused at her sudden will to leave, "Want me to walk you?"

"It's fine, it's not far from here."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay."

TT was quiet for a moment, "Alright, well, if you insist," he paused, "Let me walk you to the door at least…"

He followed her to the door, hesitantly opening it for his guest.

Piddles gave him a small smile before stepping outside.

That same sensation he had felt at the club the other night enveloped him as he watched her leave. He had to say something.

"Goodnight."

Piddles stopped in her tracks, somewhat surprised to still see him standing in the doorway.

"Oh! Uh…night…"

He only nodded as he shut the door. TT stood for a moment, looking over the main room again.

It felt empty.

Outside, Piddles stared at the house before reminding herself of her objective. Making sure no one was watching, and that TT was definitely gone, the cat rushed over to the bridge. She hopped the small fencing, letting her legs dangle over the edge before producing a communicator.

Pressing a few buttons, the machine flew out of her grasp, a projection of Gruntilda floating before her.

"Your actions have my concentration, have you uncovered information?"

"It took a little talking but I managed to find out where the base of The Resistance is."

"Your efforts have only kept me waiting, but what you've found; start relating!" The witch rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

"My… source tells me that the majority of the Resistance is inexperienced. The optimal time to attack would be before they get their act together."

Feeling it was time to turn in for the night as well, Thomas headed upstairs, flopping onto his bed and turning out the lights. Facing the window, he noticed a feline-like figure perched on the bridge, a white object seemingly floating in front of them.

"Piddles? I thought she went back to Mumbo's…"

Suspicions getting the better of him, he raced downstairs, throwing open the front door and almost tripping as he ran out. His own eagerness to get to her surprised him.

The cat winced as the hag's cackle was distorted eerily by the communicator.

"Excellent work, you've served me well, we'll bust them good and give them-"

A strident honk from a nearby police vehicle caused the girl to jump, the shock making her topple off the bridge and into the lake below.

The weasel officer only laughed as he continued his patrol.

At the base of the bridge, the cheetah heard a splashing sound, looking up to find that the figure had disappeared from the edge, a patrol car driving away slowly.

Fearing the worst, he reached the apex of the bridge, looking over into the lake below and making out a vague pink shape.

"Piddles!"

What if she couldn't swim?

Taking a breath, TT dove in after her, hoping he wasn't too late. The two surfaced a few moments later.

The girl coughed, clearing water from her lungs as she realized that the communicator was nowhere to be found. She felt someone's arms around her waist as a familiar voice filled her ears.

"Are you okay?"

"TT? What are you-" she spat, trying to escape his grasp and look for the communicator at the same time.

"Answer me. Are you okay?"

She stopped, his forcefulness gave her mixed feelings as she nodded, feeling him heave a sigh of relief.

"That's good," he paused, his earlier qualms rising again, "Hey wait a minute, what are you doing here? Why aren't you at Mumbo's?"

She was caught.

"I uh…"

"Well?"

"TT?"

"_What_?"

"You can let go now."

He felt his face turn red as he quickly removed his arms from around her.

"Um…sorry. I uh," he cleared his throat, "didn't want you… drifting away on me…" His blush only increased upon realizing his choice of words.

The phrasing didn't escape Piddles either as she tried to conceal her own color, eyes widening.

Bumper had had enough of trying to get to sleep. Although his body was tired, his mind was racing far too fast to allow him rest. One thought in particular shouted at him louder than the others combined.

He had to try.

Sitting up with less difficulty than before, the badger tried to locate Banjo's backpack among the room's sleeping occupants.

Stumbling upon his friend, Bumper very carefully removed the backpack, so as not to wake the bear, or the pack's tenant. He retreated into the dark, pushing open the main entrance door as quietly as he could, wincing as the door creaked.

No one stirred.

The badger made his way to the back of the auto shop, still hearing snores emanating from the bag.

He set the bag down, observing the surrounding area to be sure no one was watching.

"BREE!"

Bumper whirled around just in time to be greeted with a face full of egg yolk à la Kazooie.

"Alright, who are you?!"

"Pipe down already, will y'? It's only me."

"Sorry, I didn't recognize the one-armed wonder…"

That hit him; _hard_.

"Says the bird that learned to fly from a _mole_," he retorted, a bitter tone in his voice.

Kazooie's eye twitched.

"And who learned to hatch eggs from a _mole_."

"_I get it_."

"Good."

The bird stepped out of the backpack, "So, what do you want? It's the middle of the night!"

Bumper was quiet for a moment, beginning to lose his nerve as she glared at him.

"_Well_?"

It was now or never. Swallowing his uncertainties, he decided to let it out.

"Will you build me an arm?"

"WHAT?!"

Not the reaction he was hoping, but one he was expecting. He motioned for her to hush.

"Lemme explain," He said quickly, "I don't… want t' be useless; I want t' fight! I-"

"Oh shut up, you've said enough."

He was staggered at how fast she'd come to a conclusion.

"Look…" she began, her voice taking an unusually serious tone, "I've been in your place. Banjo and I knew full well… that our last outing was not intended to be a two-player game. L.O.G. clipped my wings and handed me a wrench to make me feel useful… but the truth is: Banjo can hold a stick and make things with it himself, he didn't need me…"

And he thought his case was depressing?

"Well, LCD Brain will be regretting what he did when he remembers what he did. I love karma." The bird said contently.

"I guess so…" Bumper replied, not sure of what else to say on the matter.

Things were still for a moment.

"So…?"

"You've got a mechanic!"

Kazooie offered her right wing to shake on it, noticing Bumper staring awkwardly at her, before giving him her left wing instead.

"Funny, I don't think I've seen this side of you before…"

"That's why I need you to keep this secret; I have a reputation to keep."

"Deal."

As the two left for the garage, Kazooie felt the need to let Bumper know one more thing.

"And just incase it becomes obvious to others what I'm doing," she began," I'm painting your arm pink."

"Figures there _has_ t' be a catch…" the badger thought, finally feeling he could rest easy as the two made their way back into the shop.

Conker catapulted into an upright position as earsplitting clanking and the sound of a horn met his ears. He whirled around to see none other than Kazooie slapping a pot with a wooden spoon, the horn clenched in her beak.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?! IT'S FIVE-THIRTY IN THE MORNING!"

The bird paused for a moment as others began to rouse from their slumber, "I couldn't think of anything clever to say, so I thought this would be better. Anyways, WAKE UP!" She proceeded in banging her makeshift drum again.

"Alright I get it, just get that thing out of my face!" The squirrel groaned, slamming his pillow over his head.

"Was that really necessary?" Pipsy asked groggily, still covering her ears.

The ruckus hadn't woken up everyone however, as evident by Banjo's thunderous snoring from his corner of the shop.

Kazooie rolled her eyes, approaching her sleeping partner. She smacked the pot a few times close to his head. No response. She spat out the horn and tried squawking an inch away from his ear. Again, the bear remained still.

It was then that she noticed two yellow objects buried inside the bear's ears.

"Earplugs… he's caught on…" She'd have to try another tactic.

Making a motion with her feathers, the breegull pinched Banjo's nose.

After a few seconds, Banjo came to rather quickly, gasping for breath before glaring at Kazooie.

"Nice try, Banjo," Kazooie spoke, plucking out his earplugs.

"Is everyone ready?" The bear asked, taking his seat on the trolley.

Conker and Pipsy, nodded in unison. The mouse raised a hand to speak, "This is coming out of Left Field, but whatever happened to that one cat girl, and TT?"

"Piddles? Come to think of it, I haven't seen her, or TT for some time," he looked to Kazooie, "Think we should check on them?"

"Do we have to? I liked the idea of the two of them dropping off the face of the planet…" the bird complained.

"I'm not bothered by O.K.'s absence," Banjo explained, "Piddles is the one I'm worried about. What if she's up to something?"

"Like what? Leaving floaters in problematic areas? C'mon Banjo, she's hardly a threat!"

The bear reluctantly agreed, "Even so, I still don't trust her. Let's take a look just to be safe…"

The cheetah stirred slightly, the sound of purring catching his ear. He rolled over, eyes snapping open upon seeing the waking form of Piddles next to him.

"WHOA!"

She too joined in on the scream, startled by both the noise and the fact that he was even next to her. The two leaped away from each other.

"Wha-what, what happened?!" TT instigated, clutching his chest.

"I don't know, you tell me," Piddles shot back, "What are we doing outside?!"

Thomas cocked an eyebrow before seeing that they were in fact, outdoors, in the same spot by the bridge.

"I think we both fell asleep…"

"That better be _all_ that happened…" She said, making a face.

Thomas paused for a moment, "And what's _that_ all about?"

"What's _what_ all about?"

"Your _face_."

"What _face_?"

"_That_ face, is _that_ supposed to _mean_ something? Are you implying what I _think_ you are?" He snapped.

Piddles caught on, "And what if _that is_ what I'm trying to imply, huh? What are _you_ gonna do about it?" She folded her arms neatly, smirking playfully as she paced around him.

Before they could go any further, they were interrupted by Banjo pulling up in the trolley.

"There you are, we were wondering where you two had made off to," Banjo declared.

"WE DIDN'T MAKE ANYTHING!" The two cats stated vehemently, gaining quite a few stares and a snicker out of Conker.

"That was… oddly specific…" Kazooie noted.

"So we're gonna…uh," Banjo chose his words carefully, trying not to alert Piddles to their destination, "'Go fishing by the Docks'…yeah…anyways, TT, are you coming with us?"

The cheetah looked confused.

"We're going to the Jiggoseum," Kazooie corrected.

Banjo glowered at her, "Good job, Kazooie."

"Banjo, it's fine. Who cares if Grunty knows where the Resistance is located, we can take her."

"But what about the others-" he began before having a wing pressed to his mouth.

"What he means is: are you two interested in a little memory chip hunting?"

It didn't matter how many times he had seen it, the Jiggoseum never ceased to amaze Banjo. A golden stadium adorned with fountains, statues, and sunlight lay before them, dedicated to sporting events of many varieties. A windowed dome sheltered the coliseum from everything but the rays of light that seeped in through its glass.

Was it a wonder that the Jiggoseum was so popular?

The trolley had materialized on the ski jump protruding from the stadium itself, lending a view to all that lay below. Seeing some sort commotion surrounding the massive dart board, Banjo urged the trolley to the foot of the ramp for a closer look. Two figures stood atop the raised platform, both wielding some sort of object as the crowd gathered.

"What are they doing, Banjo? I can't see!" Kazooie trilled.

The bear rubbed his chin in thought, "See if there's a Spec-O-Spy part in my backpack…"

The breegull dove into the pack, retrieving an object in Bottles' likeness from within. Receiving the item, Banjo set it free into the air, controlling it with a remote control and viewing its display on a separate monitor. He maneuvered the camera around the improvised arena, eyeing the two combatants.

On one side of the field was a figure both Banjo and Kazooie recognized quite well. Captain Blubber stood with rusty cutlass in hand, appearing quite collected and amused. On the other side of the showground was a lithe tiger, equipped with a rapier.

"Is that… _Timber_?"

"What are they saying, I can't hear!"

The cat engaged his challenger with a quick flick of his sword hand.

"En garde!"

Blubber lowered his blade in confusion, "Ain't ther' two o' them?"

The two quickly sprung into action, brandishing their blades and parrying each other's blows.

"Blubberguts is…actually good at this…"

"Perhaps we underestimated him?"

"I don't think so."

Regardless of how many times Timber ducked, rolled, and attacked, his advances were repeatedly blocked and evaded by the salty sea hippo. The Captain stood firm, occasionally making a move of his own; only to make more contact with air than sword.

Timber continued his speedy pursuit, pulling off elaborate flips and turns to meet Blubber's rather simple sword swipes. The tiger eventually leapt away from his adversary, trying to catch his breath. The hippo took his chance, breaking into a short run and bumping his foe with his girth. The force knocked Timber back, causing him to lose his weapon as Blubber held his own above him.

"T'was a good fight ther', matey," He spoke, sheathing his trusty cutlass, and replacing it with an extended hand instead.

Timber grasped it as he felt himself being hauled up.

"Now all that Flibbit flouncin' is fine in short bursts," The Captain began, "But it'll getcha no where if y' tire yerself out before you've even crossed blades, mate!"

"I'll remember that," Timber replied, shaking on it.

"Timber!"

The cat could make out several forms -only two of which he recognized- driving towards him in what appeared to be a crude shopping trolley.

Pipsy quickly leapt out of the tray, much to the bewilderment of Conker, wrapping her arms around Timber.

"Alright, who's this?"

"You forgot about Timber?" The bear asked.

"…Timber?" Conker got himself a better look at the tiger, noticing the familiar blue baseball cap with the odd 'R' emblazoned on it.

"SIR!"

Conker did a double take upon hearing the call, seeing a frantic grey squirrel rushing his way toward him. The squirrel saw only one Chevron adorning his tattered, unkempt uniform.

That could only mean one thing.

"_Garrison_…" Conker shook his head, of all the people that could have died in his Section, why did _Garrison _have to live?

The chipper squirrel stopped short of his leader, shaking all over in excitement, "I'm so happy to see you okay, sir… Sir? Are you okay?"

"Fine, I've just suddenly acquired a splitting headache…" the Corporal rubbed his temples agitatedly, deciding to see the remaining members of his group.

Thankfully, his second-in-command, Lance-Corporal Meadow Brooks, had survived, along with sharpshooter, Private Keith Schrader. At least his sanity would remain somewhat intact.

"It's been too long, I've missed you," Timber spoke, letting the girl go.

"Me too…" Pipsy replied.

Something struck Timber as he brought his attention to Pipsy's companions: shouldn't Bumper be with them?

"Where's Bumper? Is he still working the docks?"

Pipsy said nothing as a solemn look materialized on her face.

"What? What happened?"

She quickly explained the situation.

"If only we'd been prepared sooner…we might have prevented this…"

"There's nothing we can do about it now," the mouse assured, placing a comforting hand on the tiger's shoulder, "Besides, he seems alright now…"

Timber detected the uncertainty in her voice.

"He doesn't want anyone to worry about him. Then again, he always _did_ place everyone else before himself…" the cat thought to himself, "idiot."

Timber perked up as something occurred to him.

"Hey, I've got a little surprise for you…"

Pipsy cocked an eyebrow, what would he have for her? He gestured for her to follow as he approached two people, one an elderly man who was wheel-chair bound, the other, a young woman. Sitting quite comfortably with the man was a Fudgehog.

"Ferdinand!" The girl scooped the Piñata up, holding him close.

"I figured you might have been lonely hanging around the Theatre District, so I had him brought here."

"Timber, you didn't have to do that…" Pipsy answered, holding her old friend. She had grown up with the Fudgehog, caring for him ever since he was just an egg, "But, thank you."

He nodded before addressing the man, "I can't thank you enough for doing this, Jardiniero."

"It wasn't any trouble at all," the elder said, "My daughter and I were heading this way anyway. A Pretztail was sent here some time ago for a party, but never returned."

"Pretztail?"

"I've yet to see a Pretztail," Pipsy interjected, "But I've recently come across a Pigxie."

"Wait a moment… oh dear…" the human girl spoke.

"What is it Leafos?"

"That Pretztail that was shipped out, it was often seen in the company of a Pigxie. I think its name was… Ed."

"You don't say?" Jardiniero mused.

"You don't think it flew all the way over here to find its friend do you?" Pipsy asked, amazed at the devotion a single Piñata could have.

"It's a possibility, and not entirely unheard of."

Conker watched the scene unfold in the distance, wishing he was somewhere else. They were just so… _perfect_ for one another; it almost sickened him to see it.

"Sir, is something wrong? You seem tense…"

Meadow approached her leader carefully, knowing full well that he was prone to lashing out at times.

"I'm fine," he lied. Meadow could read him like a neon sign. Then again, she wasn't his second-in-command for nothing.

She noted his lack of eye contact, deciding to leave the Corporal alone rather than press the issue farther.

"This is a very healthy Piñata," Jardiniero inspected the Fudgehog, "Candiosity looks good and everything. He's not quite up there with the Piñatas I used to raise, but I am impressed. Are you a gardener per chance?"

"Oh no, my grandfather is though. Ferdinand is just a pet really."

"Hmm…" The old man seemed to be contemplating something, "And you say you have found and befriended Ed the Pigxie?"

"Yes."

"Then I've decided."

"What?" Pipsy questioned, what had he concluded?

Jardiniero removed a short stick of about seven inches long from a cloth bag. Activating a small button on the side, the stick immediately expanded to the length of a staff.

"This here is called the Trick Staff, an upgrade of your garden-variety Trick Stick," he spoke, presenting the rod to her.

It was rather ornate; a diamond adorned the head of the staff as blue and gold decorations lined the body. Golden pieces hung from the head of the staff, clinking together.

"While the Trick Stick could only command resident Piñatas to perform tricks, the Trick Staff can summon and sway any Piñatas present in the area."

"That's incredible!"

"It is isn't it? I've been looking for someone to test it for me, as this is only a prototype. Would you do the honors, my dear?"

"Oh, absolutely! Thank you so much, sir." The mouse girl responded.

"How about you give it a try?"

Pipsy gave him an odd look, "_Now_? Alright, what do I do?"

"Just wave it around a bit and see what happens, go on, give it a go!"

A little uncertain at first, Pipsy stood with the staff in hand, giving it a very modest swing.

Nothing happened.

"It's not going to bite you, silly girl. Try again!"

She swung a little harder this time. Suddenly, a buzzing sound met their ears as a Taffly flew into the area to investigate.

Jardiniero snickered slightly, "Well, it's not bad for a first try. Nobody is a natural at anything right away, although I would have had at least a Dragonache appear by now…but I digress," the man shrugged.

"I can 'ardly wait to get my 'ands on 'im," a rhino huffed.

"Make that double for me, love," a pig woman replied, "Life was hard enough without L.O.G. screwing it up!"

This caught Pipsy's attention.

"He's not behind all this,"

Timber gave her a look of confusion, "What-"

"What are you on, girl? Who else are we supposed to believe to be behind all this turmoil?" A penguin asked.

"Surly you must have noticed that the change occurred when he took up that new employee, correct?" Pipsy asked, "L.O.G. is innocent!"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Timber cut in, "are you saying Gruntilda is behind all this?"

Some applause could be heard in the distance as Kazooie was outside the backpack, clapping her wings together.

Without warning a jarring cackle resonating throughout the Jiggoseum, unsettling everyone present in the area.

"Very good, I am impressed, to see through L.O.G. I do confess!"

"Not like it was very difficult!" Kazooie shouted.

TT shot a look at Piddles, who maintained a look of complete innocence as the witch continued her spiel.

"I do hope you are feeling rather chipper, here comes Legchomper, Big Nacka, and Ripper!"

Grunty let out one last resounding screech as a portion of the floor opened up. Resistance members scrambled away from being swallowed up as a creature emerged from the gaping hole in the ground.

A monstrous Cerberus stood before them. The central head let out a menacing roar, red orbs fiercely looking over its prey. The left head resembled a Barkbark. Its tongue lolled playfully out of its mouth, lending it a friendly, albeit silly, disposition. The right head was in the form of a Mallowolf. It seemed rather indifferent to the situation at hand, looking about ready to fall asleep. The body and tails of the beast were a strange combination of the three animals represented by the creature's heads.

The beast placed a massive paw forward, readying itself to attack.

"ALRIGHT! REMEMBER WHAT WE'VE TAUGHT YOU! GET INTO YOUR POSITIONS, AND LET'S MOVE!" Timber cried as the Resistance began its own assault.

"Why do all of these bosses have to be so huge?" Kazooie asked as Banjo shifted the trolley into gear.

"Haven't we always lived in a disproportional universe though?" Banjo replied.

"That's despicable, how could anyone do that to a Piñata?" Jardiniero snapped as he wheeled himself away from the danger, "You should probably get a hang of that staff real soon!"

Pipsy had never fought anything before, but seeing as two-thirds of the enemy could be affected by the Trick Staff, she felt she had an easy advantage.

Conker's Section took refuge behind the giant dart board, planning their first moves.

"Sir," Keith spoke calmly, producing his Widowmaker, "If we can slow this thing down, and if I can get a good vantage point, I could probably take out its eyes."

"That's great and all…" Conker began, "But I think you'll only need to take out two…"

"He's right," Meadow added, "Look at the beast's movements: they are erratic and disorganized. One head controls the body at a time. The center head seems to be the only one looking to cause harm."

"Sir!"

Conker rolled his eyes before acknowledging his subordinate.

"Tank wants to use the big guns, can he?"

"_No. Do not use the big guns_. There are too many people running around for that."

The hulking Tank only groaned in reluctant agreement, disarming his Bazooka.

"…Well can I try out my Sturm 21 then?"

"Sir, he's the worst shot here, he'll only hurt himself." The Sneeker reasoned.

"That's the idea," Conker answered briefly before flagging down Banjo as he drove by.

"Think we can go a little higher?"

"What are you doing?" Piddles shouted as TT hopped inside a nearby bomber plane.

"To stop Timber from hogging all the glory!" The cheetah quickly engaged the vehicle, kicking up dust as it took to the air.

She folded her arms in anger.

"Be careful," she whispered unto the wind.

"FIRE!"

Several small bombs were launched into the air from crude catapults, exploding just short of the Cerberus as Resistance members rushed to dispense more into the catapult bed from Mumbo Bombos.

"This thing won't stop moving!"

"It's huge! How can you miss it?"

"We can't get a clear shot!"

They were right. Whenever the Barkbark head was in control, it seemed to cause the body to move faster. Not set head seemed to dominate over the others. Timber thought for a moment before seeing Pipsy gripping the Trick Staff tightly.

"PIPSY! TRY TO HOLD DOWN THE BARKBARK!"

Broken out of her stunned trance, the mouse girl readied the staff in hand.

She gave the object a hefty swing, pointing it at the Barkbark head.

As if a leash had been tugged, the canine found itself suddenly yanked over to where Pipsy was standing, knocking itself over in the process. With a speed that surprised even her, the mouse girl leapt out of the way, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the beast's form.

The Mallowolf head took over as it tried to right itself, the other two heads writhing about in protest as the lupine tried to curl up and sleep. No sooner had it lied down did the central head come into power again.

"PIN IT DOWN!" Timber barked.

Not knowing how to hold the creature, Pipsy slammed the end of the staff into the ground. The Cerberus was felled again.

"A little more…" Keith murmured, readying his weapon, his eye pressed to the scope.

"Just say 'when' when we're high enough…" The bear responded.

After a moment, the sniper caught the eyes of the center head in his sights.

"When…"

The monster howled as it was blinded by sniper rounds. TT flew in, emptying round after round from the egg guns positioned in between the wings. What appeared to be a tear appeared in the neck of the Mallowolf. The opening only grew, before eventually severing the head altogether. A stream of red poured from where the head used to be.

Kazooie lifted her wing in the air to catch some of the falling objects.

"Jelly beans?" She stuck a few in her mouth.

"Eww… cinnamon…"

"It bleeds… Cinnamon Jelly beans?" Meadow attempted to confirm, an incredulous look on her face.

"You get used to these kinds of things eventually…" Conker assured, helping himself to the sweet rain.

"FIRE!"

The last of the ammunition made contact with the Barkbark head, severing it as well. A cascade of candy crashed over the crowd as confusion sprung among the Resistance.

Now in complete control, the last of the Cerberus stumbled about, blind and in agony.

TT had the misfortune of flying too close to the flailing tails. The blunt Mallowolf tail struck the wings of his plane, sending it into a downward spiral to the ground. As he tried to manage the vehicle, it buckled, and eventually made impact with the ground, throwing him out of his seat. It wasn't long before Piddles was on the move, racing frantically to the crash site.

A rousing cheer grew among the rebels as the beast finally fell for good. The fallen heads eventually shrank and dissipated, leaving two rather puzzled Piñatas amongst a sea of candy. The body and final head did as the other two before it: it shrank and disappeared, leaving a rather dazed bat like creature in its wake. The bat let out a small cry before flying away, a memory chip falling from its wing.

"TT, TT, get up!" Piddles shook the still form of the cheetah to no response.

"C'mon, just… just WAKE UP!"

She was met with no reaction.

The cat girl covered her mouth with both hands in shock. He couldn't be!

"No…no, no, no! IDIOT!"

A snort sounded from the "corpse" as Thomas rolled over onto his back, laughing.

"I would've gone on longer, but I couldn't hold it in anymore!" He said through tears as Piddles gave him several slaps to the face.

"Wha -ow – what's the matter? It was a joke! I can't believe you actually –ow – cared!"

"I most certainly _do not_ care what happens to you!" Piddles shot back defensively, face turning red, "But can you blame me for being concerned over a seemingly dead person?!"

The group only laughed as they watched the cat girl deal out what she felt was a suitable punishment, glad to see a happy ending surface from the ordeal.


End file.
